Hi all,

the way i see it is that since the government is a big shareholder in safcon and telcom kenya, it would not really appreciate any reduction in prices of calls for sustained higher profits...one thing that the government through the notorious Ndomo is not telling us is that the effect of reduced rates will be countered by huge increase in talk time...infact consumers will now spend more than they were doing before and actually the revenue to the exchequer will increase...

a simple case in point...all those who were "frashing" me to call them are nolonger doing the same as the calling has become affordable.

personaly, i dont think there will be any significant reduction in tax collection from the telecomms players..

Extracts from MACHARIA KAMAU BUSINESS REPORTER

Were Airtel Kenya customers duped on the recently launched product, Feelanga Free?

Fresh details are now emerging from industry regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), which the mobile operator failed to make full disclosure about its latest Sh1 a minute on-net offer to subscribers.

CCK argues that Airtel had misled consumers to believing that Feelanga Free offer was a permanent tariff, when in fact it was a promotional tariff.

"Based on the information availed at the launch, the public has perceived it as a permanent tariff. He said that upon enquiry by CCK. The commission has further instructed the operator to comply with the promotional guidelines as provided in the Kenya Information and Communications (Tariff) Regulation, 2010.

There have also been calls to CCK to intervene by possibly putting a minimum rate. The commission however said it would not fix prices. "Our mandate is purely guided by the sector legislation and regulations in force. Network operators are free to adopt business models that suit them," he said.

This answers the question of sustainability of the tariff and the economic impact, it also goes a step further to tell you the interests of the people you are dealing with, sharesholders of safcom that sold out of panic and a loss are now cursing

Why dont you read todays business report in the standard newspaper. Then decide for yourself if it is propaganda or not! Bob is not my boss i am my own boss neither am i also known as(aka)Mugunda... further more no one stopped you from going cheap and enjoying the rates, we just stated the facts as they are.

@Njamba, Nice we are all enjoying but they cant make it permanent, they also know that they are in business and they need tarrifs that make economic sense

I disagree kidogo with you, the majority of kenyas will still be on voice due to cost of devices and other challenges, though you are right that voice calls will be impacted.... About the cables on power lines Kenyans even vandalise the power cables.... but yeah TKL, KDN and other cable guys should do better.. MW and Wimax will send the prices high due to frequency costs by CCK

ERIFLOSS: I also tend to disagree with you.Some subscribers can afford data and smartphones;but there are those who don't want to access it through phones like me.Call me old school but always give me my laptop.A phone is too small a device for me to strain my eyes while trying to read/post at Wazua...

@Ali Baba, I think that we are talking about different things. Most people of course want to access the internet on a laptop- larger screen, and a keyboard. But they still want the convenience of having internet in their pocket- thus a smartphone. But what we are talking about here, is a smartphone that is simply a small computer with a Voice Over IP application that uses data, not "per-minute voice" services to transmit the audio of a phone call to and from the smartphone to any phone. Hence, there is no actual "phone" and no actual "phone call" taking place. It's computer-transmitted audio and even video! Now the program on the smartphone is properly dressed up to look and feel like a "phone" but in reality, that is just to make it easy to use.

The secret is this... that is what the telecoms are already doing. They are saving billions of shillings because they take your calls, turn them into data, and run the over the internet. That way, they can use any existing network, and not have to spend so much money on their own backhaul and interfacing with other network. They have been making tons of money off of consumers by not lowering rates a long time ago when they started taking advantage of this technology. It's like hopping in your neighbors trunk for a ride to work, for free, instead of driving and maintaining you own car. In fact, it's actually called IP trunking. And what I am talking about is individuals taking advantage of it by "trunking" their calls over their data connections, instead of over standard "phone", thus making calls virtually free as long as you have data access.

@Jamani, what if we gave it away for free?

Seriously, what if we gave away limited, low-bandwidth data access, just for casual browsing and calling, in exchange for displaying visual or audible advertisements. Do you think that's viable?

Imagine a Kenyan-developed smartphone app that lets you connect to WiFi hotspots around town for free, but you have to sit through a minute of advertising- a radio commercial- once a day. We sell the advertising to cover the costs. It would be like a giant internet cafe that made its money by selling ad space like billboards, television, and radio do. It may seem crazy, but it should be a lot cheaper than setting up a radio or TV station.

We could offer production of the spots as an incentive to advertise with us. We could use the recording studio I spoke of to record and edit the commercials.

Thoughts?

And after all that theorizing and lip service, and Bob's full blown panic and promises never to go to 1 bob or a fixed daily charge, yesterday safcon was offering unlimited on-net calls for 50/=.

Bob can run for MP, he has the attributes...say one thing, do another!