Universal Service in Telecommunication in a Liberalising Environment With Reference to Kenya

Abstract

Telecommunication policy is always a balance between economic growth and social justice. Universal service is generally concerned with the latter, which underlines the ability to pay and equity in its objectives of provision of telecommunication lines and access to services available on that line to every applicant upon request at affordable and/or equitable prices. Universal services are used in this description to connote a telephone at the premises or houses while universal access means a telephone within a reasonable distance. It is the obligation placed on universal service providers to ensure that standard telephone services, payphones and prescribed carriage services are reasonably accessible to all people on an equitable basis wherever they reside or carryon business. In Kenya, Telkom Kenya Ltd (TKL) is the universal service provider, TKL was expected to meet the roll-out targets prescribed in the license issued in July 1999 that enjoins it to install certain number of payphones in urban as well as in the rural areas. A central object of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) regime in a monopoly situation is that the losses that may result from supplying loss making services in the course of fulfilling usa will be recouped from the high tariffs that TKL charges telephone calls for international and long distance during the exclusivity period. In the post exclusivity period, the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) is expected to make arrangements to ensure that telecom services are accessible to all Kenyans as recognised by the International Telecommunication Union (fTU) as a human right. Section 83 of the Kenya Communications Act, 98 (KCA) provides for universal services for postal sub-sector and no equivalent provision was made for telecommunications sub sector particularly in a liberalised environment although the Government policy has expressly provided for usa in the telecommunication Sector. This project intends to discuss the usa provision in Kenya in post Exclusivity period and particularly in a fully liberalised and privati sed environment to determine how this service and access may be provided throughout Kenya. The current connectivity is 250,000 telephone lines which translate to a teledensity of below one per centum. This indeed is a pathetic situation taking into account the central role that telecommunication is playing in the information age and the impact it has on the overall development and growth of the economy. Kenya is lagging behind in this sector and there is need to develop innovative ways to deal with this poverty of information that is fast determining the competitive edge a country may have in the wake of liberalisation and globalisation. In this regard. therefore, this article intends to examine the various models that have been adopted in more advanced economies as well as the recent initiatives that have been promulgated by the developing countries to bridge the digital divide. This project will then examine a model that Kenya has developed and adopted to leapfrog into the global superhighway taking into account the need to fast track the adoption of the Internet that is currently fuelling e-Commerce. This project will further review the proposed instruments and mechanisms that are proposed to be deployed to bring about the even development of the telecommunication sector in both the urban and rural areas as well as the served and the underserved areas in Kenya in a fully liberalised environment.