Airtel, Telkom win in 4G frequency spat with Safaricom
BUSINESS DAILY By OKUTTAH MARK,
Monday December 14, 2015
Airtel and Telkom’s Kenya Orange are set to be allocated equal share of the preferred 800MHz frequencies for rolling out high speed Internet, a move expected to end claims that the regulator was favouring Safaricom in spectrum allocation.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) director general Francis Wangusi says the regulator will put a proposal to its board for equal allocation of the 800MHz frequency spectrum to the three mobile operators.
This, he said, follows a resolution arrived at the Geneva Radio World Conference that ended last week, where African countries agreed to allocate to mobile telecommunication firms additional frequencies freed-up after migration from analogue to digital TV broadcast.
At the moment only Safaricom has been allocated some share of frequency on this band, which it has used to rollout 4G network in Nairobi and Mombasa.
The allocation of the 800MHz broadband frequencies to Safaricom prompted strong protests from Airtel and Orange, who said they did not agree with the process that was followed to issue the telco what they termed as the best 4G spectrum.
The 800 MHz band, according to Airtel, enables an operator to roll out 4G services in a less costly manner because it provides good network coverage with fewer radio infrastructure (radio base stations ) than the 1800 MHz, the other broadband spectrum.
“The allocation of the frequency spectrum will be done on equal basis among the three mobile operators. However one of the condition is that they must share it with the tier-two players,” said Mr Wangusi.
The CA boss said the regulator is yet to come up with the pricing methodology and could not say how much the operators will pay for the 4G frequency spectrum.
READ: Why Airtel wants a share of Safaricom 4G frequency
Previously, the CA had given indicative figures saying Safaricom will have to pay a license fee of $56.25 million (about Sh5.6 billion) before it is issued with the 800MHz frequencies.
The authority has in the past defended the allocation of the frequency licence to the leading operator saying it was tied to the National Police Security Project issued to Safaricom.
The 4G frequencies enable the telcos to offer high speed Internet to customers, as well as broadband-based TV broadcasts.
Airtel welcomed the move by the regulator saying it is in line with international best practice.
“This will create equality though Safaricom already has a head-start or a first mover advantage in this front,” said Adil El Youssefi, Airtel CEO.
“This is the equal opportunity we have been requesting for,” he added.
Mr Adil said the equal allocation of the 4G frequency will enable customers to choose high speed Internet services from more than one operator, creating network competition.
Airtel has previously argued that Safaricom should not be allowed use the 800MHz to commercially rollout the 4G network before an agreement by other operators who also plan to launch a similar joint platform is signed.
“We welcome CA’s proposal to allocate Spectrum in the 800 MHz for 4G broadband services to all operators, which will avoid the need for sharing of these resources.
“We hope all licensees will pay the required licence fees followed with investment in related infrastructure to enable industry competition in the roll out of 4G Services,” said the Safaricom director for corporate affairs Stephen Chege.
He added that Safaricom is currently conducting 4G trials and will pay the applicable licence fees to the CA before rolling out commercially.