Communications Authority of Kenya director-general Francis Wangusi. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya's telecommunication service providers have cumulatively
lost more than Sh280 million mostly through acts of vandalism, the
industry regulator has said.
Francis Wangusi, the
Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) director general, has said the
losses are largely attributed to terror attacks and destruction of
property as part of political violence following the recently concluded
October 26 repeat election.
“These incidents have been
occasioned by terrorist attacks specifically in Mandera, Garissa and
parts of Lamu counties....vandalism of mobile telecommunications masts
and other forms of infrastructure has also been noted in some parts of
the country, particularly in Kisumu County, in the aftermath of the
just-concluded electioneering period,” said Mr Wangusi Wednesday.
He
noted that the deliberate destruction of communications infrastructure
under the false belief that it belongs to particular operators was
misleading, saying Base Transmitter Stations (BTS) deployed in the
country accommodate multiple players through infrastructure sharing
arrangements.
“To vandalise the existing
infrastructure, when industry players are investing billions of
shillings to deploy ICT infrastructure to close existing communication
gaps, is not only a demonstration of bad faith but also unacceptable,”
said Mr Wangusi.
He noted that in the recent past,
close to eight base stations have been damaged across the country
thereby cutting off communication among locals.
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