Safaricom faces KES 449 mln fine by telecom regulator One of Kenya’s largest telecoms faces a fine of 0.2 percent of its gross revenue for the last financial year, equivalent to 449 million shillings ($4.47 million), official documents seen by Reuters on Monday showed.
The regulator, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), said it had decided to impose the fine on the company, part owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s, for failing to connect smaller firms.
Safaricom denies the accusation and has secured a temporary suspension of the fine pending a hearing before an industry tribunal, according to the documents.
If upheld by the tribunal, the fine would be the largest ever imposed by Kenya’s telecoms regulator.
The fine marks an escalation of a row between the firm and the regulator over competition in the sector. The two parties have been tussling over a report on the industry, which among other things calls for price controls on Safaricom to help smaller operators.
“The CA is trying to stamp its authority,” said Eric Musau, a research analyst at Standard Investment Bank.
“If this is the trend and there are other violations, it tells you the CA will be able to take tough decisions.”
The regulator said in a letter to Safaricom, reviewed by Reuters, that it had received complaints from a rival, Elige Communications Ltd, that Safaricom was blocking calls to its network.
The regulator also said Safaricom, which controls 67 percent of mobile phone subscribers in Kenya, had failed to follow the regulator’s directions as it tried to resolve the complaint.
“The Authority considers this an act of blatant disregard of not only other licensees’ rights but also the Authority’s directives and in contravention of license conditions,” the CA said in the letter, dated Aug 1.
In a letter of reply by Safaricom two days later, also reviewed by Reuters, the company said it had complied with all directives from the regulator, and accused Elige of flouting its licence conditions by carrying international traffic instead of local calls.
“It is illegal to allow such international voice traffic to be terminated by a locally licensed operator into another network through the local interconnection link,” Safaricom wrote. Macaulay Culkin Opens Up About What Happened At Neverland How to keep yourself safe when buying a second hand phone Price Fixing Scandal Sees DSTV Fined R180 million Forget Fake Lashes – What Your City Females Do Instead Remember The Kid Bodybuilder? Shocking […]
