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Kenya: Regulator awards international gateway license Print E-mail
Friday, 30 June 2006
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the telecommunication regulator, has granted international gateway licenses to the country's two mobile operators.

Currently, all international calls made by Kenya's six million mobile phone subscribers have to be connected through Telkom Kenya’s network.

"With the license, mobile operators will now be allowed to construct and operate their own international voice gateways," said John Waweru, head of the CCK.

Safaricom, which is 40% owned by Vodafone and 60% by Telkom Kenya, and the Kenyan unit of Celtel, each paid approximately US$200,000 for the licenses.

"We expect to see a dramatic decline in the cost of international calls into and out of Kenya, better roaming facilities, better data services," said Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.

The government recently invited bids for the country's Second National Operator (SNO), offering a unified license that includes mobile telephony. There are hopes that competition from the new operator will force Safaricom and Celtel to lower prices.

Kenya's Information & Communications Minister Mutahi Kagwe said the government hoped to issue more unified licenses. Celtel CEO Gerhard May urged the government to quickly adopt the unified license system to allow fair competition between mobile operators and the SNO.

Source: Reuters - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News