Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom fail quality of service test, fined Sh311 million

Communications Authority of Kenya Director General Francis Wangusi. [File picture]

NAIROBI, KENYA: 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.

According to the QoS report by the CA, neither Safaricom, Airtel nor Telkom Kenya achieved the 80 per cent minimum threshold set for compliance with a number of QoS parameters for the fourth year running.

In the latest 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 per cent average for the preceding year.

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 June 30 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 percent of the set QoS KPIs.