Safaricom’s Licence renewal pending approval because of poor voice quality

The Kenyan ICT secretary, Fred Matiang’i has vowed to tie the renewal of Safaricom’s mobile operating licence to the voice quality checks that show it is non-compliant.

Safaricom failed to meet the Quality of Service (QOS) targets according to the performance assessment done by the  Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

Matiang’i said the government and the Communications Commission of Kenya CCK will not negotiate over voice quality standards.

He added that the service quality has tied the renewal of Safaricom’s licence, which is due before June, to paying KES 2.3 billion and achieving the voice tests. Safaricom has termed the requirements as punitive.

Matiang’i  said he does not understand why an operator would like to negotiate a licence condition. There are only two options, which are either to comply or step out of the business.

Source: Telecom Paper