Kenya: CA Proposes Tariff Reduction for M-Pesa Across Networks

By Jacqueline Kubania

Popular mobile money transfer platform M-Pesa may soon become cheaper for non-Safaricom users if new proposals by a consultant hired by the Communications Authority of Kenya are effected.

Analysys Mason, a UK consultant appointed two years ago to assess competition in the telecoms sector, also recommends that Safaricom stops on-net discounts and individually tailored loyalty schemes so as to reduce the barriers to entry for smaller players.

COMPETITION

The consultant has however shelved a contentious proposal to split Safaricom and M-Pesa in order to reduce Safaricom's competitive advantage in the mobile money transfer market.

Analysys Mason said Tuesday it had reviewed its earlier position that the two businesses be separated by the end of last year after consultations with stakeholders.

"This remedy could be seen as disproportionate and constraining the CA's discretion to act as it saw fit at the time. Final report is therefore silent on what further remedies the CA might consider," the firm said in Nairobi during presentations of the Telecommunication Competition Market Study in Kenya to the public.

SOURCE: Nation.