Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom Fined Ksh 311 Million By CA for Poor Service

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has fined three mobile operators Sh311 million for failing to meet the quality of service (QoS) standards for the 2015/2016 financial year.

A Quality of Service report CA shows Safaricom, Airtel , and  Telkom Kenya failed to meet the minimum threshold for compliance for the fourth year running.

In the report,Safaricom scored 62.5 per cent, while Airtel and Telkom Kenya Ltd were rated at 75 per cent each.

“However, with an industry average of 70 per cent, the 2015/2016 score is an improvement, compared to the 62.5 percent average for the preceding year,” said CA.

The Authority issued the licensees with warning notices for non-compliance and also fined them a sum equivalent to 0.15 percent of their individual latest financial returns for the period prior to 30th June 2017.

The report also details comparative performance over the past three years thus giving indicators on the relative performance of the operators over time in line with the Kenya Information and Communication Act, 1998, the attendant Regulations and licence conditions in relation to QoS.

The operators were rated on QoS standards expressed in terms of a select set of Parameters/Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

A mobile operator is rated compliant when they attain 80 per cent of the set QoS KPIs.

CA also disclosed that a new QoS framework has been developed in collaboration with stakeholders as part of efforts to continually improve the assessment of compliance by the operators.

“The new framework will see CA assess both data and voice services and increase its sampling rates countrywide.”

The assessment is conducted annually to ascertain compliance with the Kenya Information and Communication Act, 1998, the attendant Regulations and license conditions in relation to Quality of Service (QoS).

The report provides the level of conformance of the licensees’ services to the set quality of service standards expressed in terms of a select set of parameters, also referred to as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).