Recent reports in Kenya's media have pointed to a dispute between telecom operators over the planned Communications Commission of Kenya's (CCK) plans to reduce termination rates for mobile users. The move has left a number of companies questioning whether the CCK will be able to meet their July deadline. According to a detailed report by Kenya's Standard Media, the termination rates that operators must pay companies, had been reduced to Sh2.21 in August and are to drop to Sh1.44 on July 1. SMS termination rates will also see a reduction from 60 cents to 20 cents, but analysts are unsure whether the CCK will maintain its schedule of reductions. “Right now, there is a lot of internal discussion within the regulator to understand the economic situation before further reductions can be made,” said one CCK official, who was not authorized to speak to the media. “What will happen in the next few weeks will be to investigate and see what rate reductions will mean to the industry before any final move is made, but right now all hints point that it will go through,” the official added. All this comes on the heels of price wars that have seen mobile companies report decreases in profits. “It is for this reason Safaricom is believed to be not keen on seeing the planned reduction set for July rushed through, although the firm's chief executive Bob Collymore says this is not the case,” reported Standard Media. According to Collymore, quoted by the online news source, the company “welcome[s] competition because it is good for the consumer,” but added that the regulator must be wary of companies' ability to maintain revenue and deliver services to customers. “What you see on the map and what is happening on the ground are different. People are losing jobs and some players are beginning to shed their assets. The regulator has to make the right decisions to avoid some of these situations,” added Collymore. BM
