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Safaricom Denies Dominancy Claims
[August 22, 2011]

Safaricom Denies Dominancy Claims


Aug 22, 2011 (Nairobi Star/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Safaricom has jumped to its defence over accusations of engaging in unfair competition to attain market leadership.

The public company issued a statement on the proposed Competition Guidelines announced by the Communications Commission of Kenya following recent media reports that it may be declared a dominant player.

Under the proposed regulations, if an operator is declared dominant, it will come under closer scrutiny and face penalties in-case of misusing its position. For instance, the players officially declared dominant will be required to seek clearance from the CCK before introducing new services or products into the market.




In the voice market, Safaricom has top market share of 69.9 per cent with the closest rival Airtel, having 15.2 per cent. Orange has 8.5 per cent and Essar Telkom has the smallest share of 6.4 per cent. Safaricom also has over 80 per cent share of the data market. "We believe Safaricom has attained its current market share based on fair competition on the back of innovation, investment in our brand and providing relevant services to our customers," said Bob Collymore CEO, Safaricom Limited " In any event, retail price controls is considered a drastic measure of last resort and the Kenya Government has been clear that it will avoid retail price controls in competitive markets" he said Mid last year, Safaricom was absorbed in a war of words with its competitors and regulator over the same issue of misuse of market dominance over the then proposed ' The Fair Competition & Equality of Treatment Regulations' The company argued that for the Government to seek to curtail Safaricom's growth through price controls was equal to punishing it for its success. Though the regulation were put on hold, CCK massively cut the Mobile Termination Rates that sparked a major price war in the voice and SMS segment . This saw Safaricom lose some grip on the market but still held top position.

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