Lawyers have questioned Safaricom’s moral authority to try to guide the Communication Authority (CA) on satellite service providers, after the telco raised concerns over Starlink’s operations in the country.
The Ong’anya Ombo Advocates said the entry of the firm doesn’t portend illegal services and harmful interference as Safaricom had said in a letter to the regulator’s director general expressing concerns about granting independent licenses to satellite internet providers such as Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The concerns by the law firm are contained in a letter addressed to the CA on licensing models of satellite providers in Kenya, Safaricom had also urged the regulator to consider requiring the satellite internet providers to partner with local mobile operators.
No changes required
Experts say that Starlink’s plan to launch a new innovative satellite designed to connect internet and mobile service directly to subscribers’ phone by using advance Evolved Node B, hence removing the obstacle of expensive routers, is good innovation. The internet provider announced that it was launching satellites cable of direct-to-cell (DTC) connectivity, allowing customers to access their normal smartphone without needing a Starlink terminal.
In an update on its official website, Starlink said the new satellites will have an advanced Evolved Node B (eNodeB) modem onboard that will act like a cellphone tower in space, allowing network integration similar to that of a standard roaming partner.
The eNodeB is a component of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network architecture that functions as the base station for LTE cellular networks.
“Direct to Cell works with existing LTE phones wherever you can see the sky. No changes to hardware, firmware, or special apps are required, providing seamless access to text, voice and data,” Starlink stated. This move would see Starlink expand its presence in the Kenyan telco market, competing with the current telco giant, Safaricom, among others such as Airtel, Telkom and Zuku.
Moral authority
“Safaricom, by virtue, cannot be taken as an entity that has the moral authority on governance of the telecommunication sector, not to mention the wild assumption that it has a better vision for Kenya and her citizens,” the lawyers said in the letter seen by the Business Hub.
The lawyers further suggested that Safaricom’s letter was malicious as it projected SpaceX, Starlink as a rogue entity.
About the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) comments in the letter, the commission had said the filing should have never left the drafts folder, adding that the most concerning element is that this was a part of a clear and repeating pattern of regulatory harassment.
“This is part of a repeating pattern of regulatory harassment that accelerated the moment Elon Musk stood for free speech, since then we have seen a cavalcade of regulatory agencies go after him,” Brendan Carr, from the office of Commission, said.
This comes as the telco company has in the past been accused of anti-competitive behaviour, the lawyers claimed. However, Safaricom has never been charged by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) over these allegations.
“There are several anti-competitive behaviours by Safaricom whereby for equal capacity entities, Safaricom will use the regulatory framework to play around to stifle competition,” the lawyers stated.
There are multiple allegations where Safaricom, directly or indirectly, has been quoted to have stifled its competition with one of the cases being when Safaricom with one of the most recent case being the intended merger between Airtel and Telkom in 2019 or use of its massive audience and financial capacity to drive out persons from the market.
In 2019, Telkom and Airtel had announced the signing of a binding agreement that would have seen the shareholders of the two companies agree to merge their respective Mobile, Enterprise and Carrier Services businesses to operate under a joint venture company to be named Airtel-Telkom.
