Communications Commission of Kenya headquarters in Nairobi. FILE
By OKUTTAH MARK
The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK)
will outsource the voice quality tests that have put it at loggerheads
with mobile phone firms.
The communication regulator started the search for
consultants to run the quality checks as telecom firms race to meet the
set limits.
The CCK has been conducting the test on its own
but says limited human capacity has hampered its ability to perform
continuous assessment.
The review comes as telecom firms, led by Safaricom
and Orange, continue to question the accuracy of CCK’s quality of
services. The regulator found that the four operators, including Airtel
and Yu, were non-compliant in the year to June.
Director general Francis Wangusi said an independent team will address the concerns raised by the operators.
“We have also agreed with mobile network operators
to discuss the methodology and parameters for measurement of voice
quality assessment with the commission to address future measurements in
view of the changing dynamics in the sector.”
Safaricom, Airtel and yuMobile tied on a score of
50 per cent in the year to June while Telkom Kenya had a 62.5 per cent
mark. Safaricom reckons that an independent assessor had given it a
score of 87.5 per cent
.
.
Safaricom must first pay $27 million (Sh2.34
billion) and meet the quality standards for its initial licence to be
renewed in June for a 10-year-term that will end in 2024.
The voice assessment is now on its fourth year and
CCK expects the operator to achieve a score of 80 per cent on the eight
indicators including speech quality, completed calls, call success
rates and call drop rate
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