CCK is the regulator of the ICT sector in Kenya.  It l regulates the provision of telecommunication, radio-communication, postal,  radio and television broadcast services in Kenya. The Commission also manages the coutry’s radio frequency spectrum as well as the use of electronic transaction services.

The Communications Commission of Kenya, National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and the Radiation Protection Board work closely to ensure that communications base stations are constructed and operated within the set safety standards with regard to electromagnetic emissions.

The Commission through its Consumer Education Programme has also developed factsheets and brochures on ‘Electromagnetic Energy and Human Health’ for use in the education of the public through its website and through is outreach activities.
 

Management of waste is the responsibility of every stakeholder in the communications sector. Licensees have an obligation to ensure that their systems are not a health, environmental or a safety hazard. The Commission is in the process of engaging relevant stakeholders in order to develop effective mechanisms that will enable the country to manage electronic waste in the most effective way.

After collecting public views on number portability, it is evident that the market is ripe for the introduction of number portability. Consequently, the Commission has embarked on the process of identifying an operator to manage and provide number portability services. It is expected that the services will be available by mid 2010.

The Commission sets minimum quality of service standards and ensures that consumers receive quality services from providers. The Commission, in recognizing that the provision of internet services through satellite connectivity is expensive and usually results in quality being compromised, has licensed submarine cable operators to provide optic fibre connectivity to the rest of the world.

The Government has also facilitated the construction of fibre optic national network (FONN) covering district headquarters and border towns.
 

The Commission has the legal mandate to assign frequencies for all types of radio-communication services in accordance with Kenya Communications Act and Kenya Communications Regulations.  This includes inter alia:

• Private land mobile radio-communications,
• Fixed radio services for private radio-communications and public telephony (e.g., microwave radio links),
• Two way mobile radio-communications service,
• Cellular mobile telephony,
• Maritime radio communications,
• Aeronautical radio-communications,
• Government related radio-communications for the civil service and public security,
• National defence,
• Radio navigation,
• Surveying and mapping,
• Satellite based radio-communication services,
• Emergency radio-communications for disaster management, distress alerting, search, rescue and recovery,
• Broadcasting services.

CCK is independent of the government and/or prevailing politics.  Frequencies for any category of radio-communication service are thus assigned upon application, but subject to availability of frequencies for the proposed service, but not based on political considerations.

CCK does not sell frequencies, but only levies a fee in accordance with the Kenya Communications Act and the Kenya Communication Regulations.

The current ITU Regulations makes no mention of any such “free frequencies”.  Nevertheless there are some frequency bands that are designated for use on shared and non-protected basis.  It is however up to each country to decide how to assign the frequencies in these bands and whether or not to charge any frequency fees.  The usage of these bands here in Kenya is charged for, but at rates that are considerably much lower than those charged for frequencies in bands designated for exclusive-use basis.  This is done in order to ensure orderly use of these bands, and thereby avoid creating very unstable and unusable frequency bands as has happened in some jurisdictions that have elected to apply a free-for-all spectrum management models.
 

Frequency spectrum is a limited resource that is finite.  The use and management of this resource is that is made a continuous and ever increasing challenge by:

• An ever increasing number of new types of radio-communication services.  New services such as 3G, WiMAX, TDAB, etc, which were not in the market until only recently are a case in point.
• An ever increasing number of existing types of radio-communication services.  The proliferation of the FM broadcasting stations and the ever increasing number of prospective broadcasters clearly illustrates this.

This challenge is mitigated through industry development of better performing equipment, as well as by more stringent engineering, to ensure optimization of the frequency spectrum resource.  However this notwithstanding, there are situations when spectrum gets exhausted (e.g., the current case of unavailability of FM sound broadcasting frequencies in many parts of Kenya today).  When the spectrum is fully assigned, new applicants cannot be served, and the unmet demand for frequencies is a challenge that is continuously faced by CCK in its quest to manage frequency in Kenya.  CCK charges spectrum fees in order to discourage users from hoarding spectrum, and also repossesses spectrum that is not being used.

Over the last 10 years, mobile calling rates have significantly reduced as a result of targeted interventions championed by the Commission and the Government. In recognition of the fact that access to affordable mobile telephone services is an important aspect of the country’s social economic development, the Commission has been at the forefront in championing for tax relief on telecommunication services and equipment in order to make them affordable and accessible to the wider public. Consequently, the government has exempted from VAT, all telephone handsets for cellular and other wireless networks.

In addition, the government has also raised the wear and tear threshold for telecommunication equipment from 12.5% to 20% which is tax deductible with a view to attracting investors and also passing cost benefits to consumers through lower prices.

Moreover, in an effort to induce costs reductions in the sector, in 2007 the Commission undertook a interconnection cost study for the telecommunications industry in Kenya. Based on the recommendations of the study, Commission issued guidelines on new interconnection charges with effect from March 2007 that have seen the interconnection charges reduce by 16.1 percent from Kshs. 5.27 to Kshs. 4.42 for the mobile networks termination and 2.4 percent from Kshs. 1.65 to Kshs. 1.61 for the fixed networks local area termination. The reduction in the interconnection rates has translated into substantial reductions in calling tariffs by the mobile operators.

The Commission is in the process of undertaking another interconnection study with a view to announcing new and probably lower interconnection tariffs with effect from March 2010. It is expected that the new interconnection tariffs will push the retail tariffs even further down.
 

A fundamental mandate of the Commission is to promote competition and equality of treatment in the telecommunications industry. Regulation 5(1) of the Kenya Communications Regulations, 2001 stipulates that the Commission shall, in performance of its duties under the Act and these Regulations, promote, develop and enforce fair competition and equality of treatment among all licensees in any business or service relating to communications. Regulation 7 sub-regulations (1) to (5) stipulates the procedures for persons to raise complaints with the Commission regarding unfair competition in the sector while sub-regulation (6) specify the actions the Commission may take where it is of the opinion that a licensee is competing unfairly.

The Commission is committed to dealing with all anticompetitive trade practices in the telecommunications industry diligently. With the enactment of the Kenya Communications Amendment Act, 2009 the Commission is in the process of developing new Regulations on tariff and Competition and equality of treatment that are aimed at entrenching competition in the sector.

It is however noteworthy that the broader issue of unfair trade practices is also regulatory mandate being exercised by the Monopolies, Unfair Trade Practices and Price Control Commission under Cap504 of the Laws of Kenya.