Sustainability Report 2016

Safaricom Sustainability Report 2016

We were fined KSh 157,000,000 by the CA. This penalty

represents 0.1% of our Gross Annual Revenue (GAR) and this

percentage was applied to all operators that were found to

be non-compliant.

It should be noted that we, along with the other Kenyan

mobile network operators, have expressed concerns

regarding the QoS measures used by the CA and the

Authority is evaluating the methodology that underpins its

testing framework.

We also have two escalated legal actions lodged before

the Competition Authority, but we are unable to comment

further on these as the outcomes are still pending at the

time of going to print.

Putting customers’ rights first

We have made Customer Experience a core focus of the

Regulatory and Public Policy Department. As part of this

new approach, we were involved in the reviewing and

revising of the Terms and Conditions for Safaricom products

and services. Our goal was to make these as straightforward

as possible and to ensure that customers receive adequate

information so that they can enjoy using our products and

services with confidence and satisfaction. We have also

prioritised our support for the customer education and

awareness initiatives of other Business Units where relevant.

Externally, we have also reinvigorated our support for

Chukua Hatua

, the consumer education outreach

programme of the Communications Authority of Kenya,

responding timeously to all queries and issues that are raised

and participating in other ways when appropriate.

Supporting operational excellence

Part of our new strategy has been to get closer to our

customers through decentralising and becoming more

responsive in our six regions and this has required us to

support other Business Units at the county level, assisting with

county license fees negotiations, site acquisitions, business

permits and regulatory counsel.

We also continue to collaborate with other Business Units

on matters of competition, public policy, spectrum and

regulatory economics to ensure optimum performance

within our regulatory environment.

Assisting with product relevance

Our existing mandate to seek regulatory approval for all new

and amended products and services has been expanded

to include providing internal feedback and input into the

product creation process; in other words, the regulatory

team has now taken an active, co-creation role in product

development. Customer feedback also continues to shape

the regulatory environment within which we operate and

we relay information regarding these shifting requirements

and needs into the process.

Proactively engaging with the regulator

We continue to engage with the Communications Authority

of Kenya on the following issues:

•

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.

•

Infrastructure Sharing Regulations

In December 2015, the CA published six draft

Regulations for the purposes of public consultation,

including Regulations on Infrastructure Sharing. We

are concerned that these Regulations fail to take into

account international best practice — where sharing

is based on technical and commercial viability — and

we are engaging the CA and the government on

these proposals.

•

National ICT Policy

In October 2014, the government published a draft

ICT policy for stakeholder comments and input. We

made formal submissions in response to this draft in

FY15 (regarding infrastructure sharing, the county

telecommunications operators, the reduction of radio

spectrum fees and the need to include incentives for

environmental management) and we continue to

engage with the CA during stakeholder engagement

forums. We are in the process of issuing our input

through our representation in the sectoral working

groups on emerging issues.

•

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 a Request For

Proposals (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.