Sunday, December 8, 2013

It’s all system go for Nairobi Analogue Switch-off -Gotv



MultiChoice Kenya, parent company of GOtv, has embarked on a campaign to assure Nairobi residents of it readiness for the analogue switch-off on December 13.
Launched in September 2011, GOtv has provided pay-TV channels for Nairobi residents with access to an increased number of channels and enhanced picture and sound synonymous with digital television. 
GOtv is currently the most innovative pay television service on the latest Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) technology worldwide and Nairobi is adequately covered by its signal. 
 
Launched in September 2011, Nairobi residents have been benefiting from easy access to an increased number of channels, with enhanced picture and sound quality synonymous with digital television at a price they can afford. 

According to the GOtv Kenya General Manager, Felix Kengo, the Nairobi Switch-Off coincides with the Government’s target of migrating from analogue to digital TV transmission by mid 2014.
Kenya committed to a mutually agreed East African deadline of 2012 to fully migrate television broadcasting to the digital platform. This move is expected to free up much-needed spectrum, which the government plans to re-use for other purposes,” said Mr Kyengo.

He also added that since its launch, GOtv has been playing a pivotal role towards contributing to this technological transformation and in the process helping the country to achieve its set target towards the migration to digital TV transmission.

“GOtv is uniquely placed as the home of African television. We firmly believe that there is enough rich content created here on the continent to make a case for packaging great African entertainment and we have committed ourselves to making this a reality thus, offering channels made in Africa for Africa,” said Kyengo.

GOtv provides television lovers with a digital quality picture and sound and an exciting range of local and international channels.  Subscribers will have access to an exciting selection of channels containing news, children’s programming, documentaries, series and movies.

Kyengo concluded by saying that, GOtv channels are carefully selected to cater for a variety of different tastes and family viewing needs at a very affordable price.

Some of the channels that will be available to GOtv subscribers include the ongoing GOtv East & Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup [CECAFA] football tournament, M-net Movies Zone, Select Sport 1 & 2 Africa Magic World, Africa Magic Swahili, One Gospel, E! Entertainment, Channel O, eTV Africa,  and local channels such as KBC, NTV, KTN, Citizen TV to mention but a few.  
The GOtv decoder is currently available at a special price of KSH 3,399 inclusive of 2 months free GOtv subscription and is available from the MultiChoice Agents countrywide

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Samsung’s Digital Signage Display technology to be deployed to celebrate Kenya@50

 By Dan Muhuni
Samsung Electronics East Africa, through its outdoor advertising partner, Alliance Media, has announced its support for the upcoming Kenya@50 celebrations.
The global electronics giant’s support will include provision of strategic billboards across the country, as well as the country’s first panoramic digital advertising screen; that is undergoing test runs at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, to promote the monumental building as the regional premier meeting centre. 
Samsung’s Digital Signage Display technology @KICC
Speaking during the ceremony, the Sports, Culture and Arts Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Hassan Wario said, “Every sector in Kenya has a unique story to tell, and that fits into the country’s 50th anniversary. This is a great opportunity for citizens, private sector, investors, the tourism industry among others, to come together to make an indelible mark in the Kenyan story.”  
Samsung Electronics East Africa Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Robert Ngeru, said that the new age screens which are a first in the region are based on Samsung’s Digital Signage Display technology.
Globally, Ngeru confirmed that Samsung is the now market leader in display technology providing LED-backlit panels that are renowned for their sharp text, rich colour and reliable performance. 
The launch of the Digital billboards for Kenya@50 celebrations comes at a time when the country is gearing up for the digital migration switch set for mid-December, which will see Kenyan embracing the digital broadcasting technology for the Televisions sets.
“We're extremely excited about the launch because as a brand, all our television sets are digitally complaint thus our customers will not miss the action during the celebrations. We believe that this partnership will go a long way in ensuring that the milestones of this great nation are beamed to the whole country.” Explained Mr. Ngeru.

Apart from celebrating 50 years as a nation, the Kenya @50 steering committee has lined up a series of initiatives, which will involve social and economic activities across the country with long-term positive impact.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Safaricom calls M-Pesa war truce



Business Daily.

Telecommunications service provider Safaricom has offered to negotiate a settlement with rival Airtel in an abuse of dominance dispute filed before the competition regulator.
Correspondence between the two firms shows that Safaricom agreed to settle the matter after Airtel accused it of flouting competition rules by ring-fencing its popular mobile money service M-Pesa.
Airtel first wrote to the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) on September 19, 2012 accusing Safaricom of charging higher transaction fees for money sent from M-Pesa to rival platforms such as Airtel Money.
“Kindly note that Safaricom has requested to proceed with the above matter under the provisions of Section 38 of the Competition Act No. 12 of 2010,” the regulator says in a letter dated October 25, 2013 to Airtel.
That section of the law says that ‘‘the authority may at any time, during or after an investigation into an alleged infringement of the prohibitions contained in this part, enter into an agreement of settlement with the undertaking or undertakings concerned.’’
The agreement may include an award of damages to the complainant or any amount proposed to be imposed as a pecuniary penalty.
“The authority is of the opinion that it is good practice in any litigation process to enter into a settlement, as long as the matter at hand is solved satisfactorily,” CAK wrote to inform Airtel of Safaricom’s settlement offer.
“Note that we have not been provided with the terms of the proposed settlement, but we have given Safaricom 21 days within which to submit its proposals for consideration and appraisal,” reads the letter dated October 30, 2013.
The law does not specify the amounts payable for settlement of such commercial disputes, leaving it at the discretion of the regulator and the feuding parties.
Any out-of-litigation settlement could amount to millions of shillings based on the multi-billion-shilling transactions and profits that Safaricom has generated from M-Pesa at the expense of rival services.
Airtel is, however, seeking more than monetary compensation and wants Safaricom to stop restrictions it has imposed on M-Pesa agents.
Safaricom on Wednesday declined to comment on the matter and instead directed theBusiness Daily to the competitions authority.
The proposed settlement will be the first in Kenya’s highly competitive mobile telecoms market that has long been hit by accusations and counter-accusations of sabotage and unfair trading practices.
Airtel’s complaint is hinged on Safaricom’s higher charges for cross-network money transfers and its policy of offering M-Pesa services exclusively through its 78,856 agents.
Airtel argues that these  practices are pernicious given Safaricom’s dominance in the mobile money market with an alleged 90 per cent market share.
Safaricom’s market share in the mobile money market stands at 73 per cent in terms of customers (18.1 million) and 88 per cent in terms of agents (78,856), according to the latest official statistics.
Market share in terms of value transacted was not readily available, but Safaricom alone moves at least Sh2 billion in two million transactions on a daily basis.
“Safaricom’s practices which are aimed at restricting other competing providers from accessing so many outlets in Kenya is detrimental to consumer welfare because it limits consumer choice to only one product M-Pesa and is also in violation of the Act,” Airtel said in a letter to the competition regulator dated September 19, 2012.
M-Pesa’s tariff structure shows that Safaricom subscribers pay significantly higher fees to send money to customers on rival platforms than those within the M-Pesa ecosystem. Sending money from M-Pesa to a customer on a rival platform costs between double and triple the cost to another M-Pesa subscriber.
It costs Sh237 to send Sh20,000 from M-Pesa to Airtel Money while transferring the same amount to another M-Pesa user costs Sh55.
The cross-network charges are, however, slightly lower in terms of total transaction costs because subscribers of rival networks do not incur any charges when withdrawing cash sent from M-Pesa.
This means that those sending money from M-Pesa pay the withdrawal fee upfront on behalf of the recipients who cannot hold virtual money with Safaricom.
Taking into consideration remittance and withdrawal fees, cross-network cash transfers cost between two per cent and 10 per cent more compared to transactions among M-Pesa users.
It costs a total of Sh99 to send (Sh33) and withdraw (Sh66) Sh5,000 among M-Pesa customers while a cross-network transaction of the same amount will cost a Safaricom subscriber Sh105.
Safaricom is accused of using the variance in charges to propagate what is technically known as a “club effect” where a dominant player charges relatively lower fees for on-net services to gain cumulative advantage.
There is currently no interoperability in Kenya’s mobile money market, meaning that each company’s product is only directly accessible to its customers.
Safaricom treats cash recipients in other networks as “unregistered users” who can withdraw the money by presenting an SMS credit notice to an M-Pesa agent.
Safaricom had initially planned to put up a defence, but later changed its stance to offer a settlement whose details remain unknown.
Access
The company had used provisions of the Competition Act to call for a “Hearing Conference” that would have forced the parties to discuss the dispute on October 29, 2013.
But it later cancelled the plan and instead made an offer to settle the matter. CAK said it was comfortable with Safaricom’s offer of a settlement, which the regulator was expected to have received on Wednesday.
Airtel wants the regulator to impose a financial penalty “as a deterrent against engaging in such practices in future.”
The company also wants CAK to compel its rival to stop restricting access to M-Pesa.
But Safaricom has in the past argued that M-Pesa is its proprietary product and that it should not be penalised for the massive success in the money transfer market.