Kenya's Government Opposes Proposal To Break Up Telecoms Giant

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Published Mar 7, 2017

Kenya's government is opposed to plans to amend the law to break up the country's biggest telecoms operator, Safaricom. The information minister says it would punish operators for innovations, and discourage investment. Safaricom is 40 per cent owned by Britain's Vodafone and is by far the biggest telecoms firm in Kenya. With 26 million subscribers, it dominates the mobile financial services sector with its M-Pesa platform. Safaricom has been accused of offering banking services without the necessary licence. The proposed changes to the legislation would force the firm to run M-Pesa as a separate business from its telecoms service. Smaller operators in Kenya have long argued that Safaricom enjoys a dominant position because it accounts for 90 per cent of revenues in areas such as voice calls and text messages