Kenya reviews 3G licence fee

The Kenyan government has decided to slash 3G licence charges from $25 million to $10 million, prompting telecom operator Safaricom which three years ago paid the full $25 million, to insist that it gets a refund.

However, Kenya’s Capital FM reports that Managing Director Rene Meza said the move to slash the charges from $25 million to $10 million is a step towards bridging the digital divide in the country and making Kenya the ICT hub in Africa.

“We would like to commend the government and the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) for taking the bold step of revising the upfront fee which was prohibitive and served as a barrier for other operators,” he said in a paid up advertisement.

The move, which Mr Meza argued levels the playing field for all operators, opens the door for the company to roll out the 3G network which allows subscribers to access mobile high speed data.

The plans, he added are at an advanced stage and will be done in partnership with global vendors, whom he did not name.

“The move is informed by the understanding that the real value of the 3G infrastructure is not in the upfront charge collected by the government but in the stimulus that the proliferation of data services and their usage will provide to the economy,” he added.

Zain Kenya, Telkom Kenya and Essar Telecom Kenya have in the past petitioned CCK to lower the charges.