CA opens first county office

Corporate News

Mr Francis Wangusi, the Communications Authority director-general. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

By KIARIE NJOROGE

In Summary

• The Eldoret office, located in KVDA Plaza, will be headed by a regional manager and will offer a range of services including licensing, monitoring compliance and address any customer issues that may arise.

The telecoms industry regulator has opened the first of its four county offices in Eldoret in an effort to boost presence across the country.

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), which has been operating from its headquarters in Nairobi over the past 15 years, says the regional units will place it closer to the people and help execute its mandate in the counties.

Mr Francis Wangusi (pictured), the CA director-general, said the authority would also establish three other offices in Mombasa, Nyeri and Kisumu.

“One of our key decisions that arose from the 2010 dispensation has been to establish regional offices in order to take services closer to Kenyans,” Mr Wangusi told the Business Daily recently.

“We want to ensure that all our licensees adhere to the standards. The county offices will also be used for consumer awareness and receiving complaints from the public, which will enable us to make timely decisions,” he added.

The Eldoret office, located in KVDA Plaza, will be headed by a regional manager and will offer a range of services including licensing, monitoring compliance and address any customer issues that may arise.

The office will also be the liaison point with the county governments in the greater North Rift and western counties including Uasin Gishu, Nandi, Trans Nzoia, Baringo, Turkana, Elgeyo-Marakwet, West Pokot, Samburu, Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Busia.

“The regional office will attract investment opportunities in the ICT sector and support people who come up with innovative ways of doing business,” said Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago

Mr Wangusi said the agency would be seeking to expand the sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product from the current 2.2 per cent to five per cent, and mobile penetration from 75.8 per cent to 90 per cent by 2018.

The CA also aims to deepen mobile penetration from the current 75.8 per cent to 90 per cent in 2018, while wireless broadband is expected to go up to 10 per cent within the next five years from the current 2.4 per cent.

“We shall continue to expand our reach through all possible platforms so that we can create more harmony and inclusion of players and consumer alike in the ICT regulation,” he said.

The authority is banking on the Universal Service Fund (USF) to address the ICT services gaps in the unserved and marginalised part of the country. The State started collecting a levy for the USF from telecommunication operators and broadcasters last July