CA Warns Airtel and Telkom Kenya on Poor Quality Services
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has issued warning notices to Airtel and Telkom Kenya for non-compliance with the quality of service (QoS) provided to consumers on their mobile telephony networks.
The Quality of Service Report for the year ended June 2023 released by CA shows that only Safaricom surpassed the 80 per cent performance threshold, after attaining 90 per cent of the set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Airtel and Telkom Kenya attained 79 per cent and 65 per cent respectively. A mobile operator is rated compliant when they attain 80 per cent of the set QoS KPIs.
With an industry average of 72.4 per cent, the 2022/20203 score is a big drop compared to the previous scores, 82.3 per cent in 2021/2022 and 75.53 per cent in 2020/2021.
“Airtel Kenya Networks and Telkom Kenya failed to meet not only their coverage targets but also a number of the most critical QoS KPIs, particularly the “Unsuccessful Call Ratio” and Data Internet KPIs, which is an indicator for coverage and Internet availability/accessibility respectively”, reads part of the report.
The report further revealed that the County with the best QoS is Nairobi, scoring 93.9 per cent, while the County with the lowest QoS is Laikipia, at 54 per cent.
The Authority had targeted conducting the QoS inspection and monitoring in all 47 counties; however, due to insecurity, the Authority did not conduct the QoS tests in Wajir, Mandera, and Garissa counties.
These scientific measurements and analyses are aimed at providing a broader view of the quality of service offered by mobile service providers.
The Authority has continuously invested in systems and infrastructure to improve the performance of the sector and its assessment methods.
Section 23 of the Kenya Information and Communications Act, 1998, mandates the Authority to ensure that licensed telecommunications operators and service providers offer good quality services in line with the licence conditions.
The report also shows that mobile network connectivity projects implemented by the Authority through the Universal Service Fund (USF) have greatly enhanced the overall quality of service offered and experienced by consumers, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas of the country.