Kenyan mobile phone subscribers have indeed enjoyed low call rates with the mobile wars experienced in the past year. In reference to CIO East Africa October 2010 issue, liberalization of the ICT sector opened the market for fair competition, and the intervention of the hawk-eyed regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

Tariff overview
Mobile tariffs reduced significantly over the quarter registering an average of KES 2.65 for on-net calls per minute from KES 4.78 per minute in the previous period and KES 2.5 for post-paid subscribers at the end of the first quarter July - September 2010/2011 CCK 2011. This represents 33.4 per cent reduction on pre-paid tariffs and 55.5 per cent on post-paid tariffs from the previous period.
Mobile money transfers
The Central Bank of Kenya joins this platform to control charges on the growing mobile money transfer systems. The market for mobile money transfer leverages the increased ubiquity of the mobile phone and the interoperability of the technology to provide both an easy-to-use and secure mechanism for many Kenyans to send small value emittances.
In 2007, Kenya became a pioneer in mobile money transfer services in Africa. Safaricom launched MPESA money transfer system that facilitated growth in the mobile banking industry with other licenced players; Zap, Yu cash and Orange Money joining the ground. That was until CBK decided to step in and regulate these services.
Why CBK regulates
As the banking industry regulator, CBK controls the technical uprightness of mobile payment platforms and holds the line on financial and prudent matters. This move was effective after the World Bank proposed to the Central Bank of Kenya, the need to regulate the industry. The regulation proposal with a smooth implementation will free the market of cases of money laundering and combat terrorism financing .
As part of these regulations, CBK has set up guidelines for banking and non banking institutions. They will ensure CBK reins on eMoney services that risk management is achieved and customers are protected during transfer services. In addition, the guidelines set a clear boundary between banks and the telcos.
The CBK guideline for mobile and other electronic money issuance and transfer services protects the subscribers and provide minimum operational standards in Kenya’s e-money sector.
The guidelines also lay down the law for risk management tools, execution of payments and rules on outsourcing.This new law is expected to lay the ground for establishment of independent payment systems from the present banking platform. Currently, commercial banks have been the main players in the electronic payments arena. CBK developed the National Payments System Bill which when enacted will enhance further the regulation and supervision of payment systems and payment service providers.
This draft regulations guides mobile money transfer vendors, by laying down a formal and standard way of carrying out their transactions. This will also facilitate inter-operability between different money transfer services i.e. Zap, MPESA, and Yu Cash just like the Kenya banks have their ATM operations on the Kenswitch network.
The way forward
East Africa is a forerunner of this technological innovation and its application within the banking system as well as the general public. There is no benchmark for these implementations in the world, and like all pioneers, we will learn from a series of successes and failures before we integrate the innovation into society.