SOO MAAL Posted March 15, 2005 Telkom Rakes in Millions From Somalia The Nation (Nairobi) NEWS March 16, 2005 Posted to the web March 15, 2005 By Julius Bosire Nairobi Telkom Kenya yesterday announced a record one million telephone calls into Somalia per month, with a new government in Mogadishu. The firm's managing director, Mr John Waweru, said the business was likely to expand in the future as the Somali government consolidated its power. He said with charges of Sh72 per minute, the corporation was in a position to do good business with the neighbouring country. Mr Waweru signed an inter-connect agreement on behalf of Telkom with Mr Abdi Mohamed, the managing director of Bell Western Limited at his Teleposta office in Nairobi. Bell Western will offer telephone services in the North Eastern Province. Its operations will be based in Garissa Town. Mr Waweru said the agreement gave the company authority to connect people with fixed, Celtel, and Safaricom lines. The proceeds would be shared between Telkom and Bell Western. Bell Western is owned by Kenyans from the arid areas, with knowledge of telecommunications, Mr Mohammed said. Mr Waweru said telecommunications business was overwhelming Telkom and urged those licensed to offer the services to approach the corporation for authority to do business. He said some people were licensed to offer services but were secretly riding on Telkom facilities. "We shall not allow parallel networks where private companies ride on our networks. Anyone with a licence should come to us," said Mr Waweru. Mr Mohamed said his company would start rolling out its services in two weeks. The company targeted between 20,000 and 30,000 customers for both fixed and mobile lines, he said. With the new technology, Mr Mohamed said, a telephone call out of Garissa would cost Sh13 per minute. The cost under the current technology is Sh14 per minute, usually calculated in Sh42 per a three-minute call. Mr Waweru praised Jumbonet, saying it was affordable, uncongested, reliable and faster. He said Jumbonet was ready for competition. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
