Regulatory bodies are the means through which the people of a nation can supervise the activities of organisations like companies and the fundamental goal of any regulator is to protect the safety and interests of the public. We are overseen by eight regulatory authorities in particular and our chief regulator is the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

What are their needs and expectations of us?

Our services play an important and sometimes even critical role in the daily lives of Kenyans. As a result, the regulators expect us to provide these services in a reasonable, responsible, ethical and environmentally sensitive manner, providing customers with adequate information and support to access and enjoy our services, while respecting their rights. Our regulators also require us to compete for business fairly and to play our part in helping to empower and transform the lives of Kenyans through innovation and investment.

On a regular, ongoing basis, we deliver value to our regulators by complying with the obligations they have given us and through communicating and engaging with them on the issues that arise. Some of the specific issues on which we have engaged our regulators during the reporting period include:

The Universal Service Fund (USF)

Following on from our successfully lobbying that that interconnect and MMT revenue be excluded from the USF payable by operators, the CA engaged a consultant to conduct a USF Access Gap Study in Nov 2015. In order to cover the identifi ed gaps, the consultant recommended various areas be placed into viable bidding lots and fi nanced by USF. As the next step, we expect the Project Implementation Report to be released in June 2016. We continue to engage with the CA in this process.

SIM Registration Regulations

During the reporting period, the CA amended the SIM Registration Regulations and introduced new requirements on operators to retain copies of subscriber national Identification cards. We are working closely with the Authority in order to construct a framework that meets these regulatory objectives in a satisfactory manner.

Quality of Service (QoS) measurements

Following lobbying by the industry, the CA formally appointed an international consultant to develop a new QoS Measurement and Methodology Framework. In January 2016, the CA released its new Framework for Voice, Data, Inspections and Data Verifi cation. The Authority intends to conduct a pilot between January and June 2016 and we continue to engage with the CA in this process.

Information and Communications Sector Regulations

The CA suspended its comprehensive review of the regulations governing the sector on 9 December 2015 and commenced the process of recruiting a consultant to undertake a Competition Study in the Telecommunications Market by issuing an RFP for this process. We await the outcome of this process and continue to support attempts to grow the market and to provide consumers with the very best offerings in terms of variety, price and quality that are aligned with international best practices.