Thread by @allenochi

I am about to write a very long thread on the 700Mhz, how JTL got it, Role of CA in the confusion and my opinions on everything. It will be a bit technical but i am open to explain in layman to anyone who will find it difficult to understand.

Feel free to RT, chip in, ask questions, correct, add info or share your opinion.

JTL has rolled out LTE services in Kenya. But there is something fishy and irregular about the whole deal. I have been trying to look back and see how JTL beat Safaricom and Airtel in their own game and it dates back to 2010.

But first, why is there a big buzz about this 700MHz spectrum?
1.JTL paid only 100k for the license
2.It is efficient, has wider coverage and more penetration in buildings
3. The Band’s technical characteristics to support better coverage in rural areas (This is very key)

4.The 3 others LTE operators share the 800Mhz (it is less lucrative and cost them 2.5B each) while only JTL have the 700MHz (cost them just 100K to "test")
5.It has been found that for it to operate optimally, a maximum of 3 commercial providers are needed (US govt sponsored)

UNDERSTANDING THE 700 MHZ (TECHNICAL)
-It is the spectrum portion from 695MHz to about 805MHz (IEEE)
- Lies within the UHF range of radio frequencies above VHF and below SHF
- has a wide channel size. In our case 2 blocks of 45MHz of contiguous spectrum

-Wider channels means greater network efficiency, high throughput, low latency and cheaper to deploy
- Better protection against interference
- Penetrates through walls meaning people in basements will get same signal strength as ground floor guys

Why Are Other Telecos Bitter?
@SafaricomLtd: Eyed 4G spectrum as early as 2010, Licensed to try the 4G spectrum in 2013, initially given the entire 800MHz spectrum (second lucrative) then forced to share with Airtel and Telkom, paid 2.5B for their 4G license

: Allocated trial spectrum in 2015, prioritized 4G over 3G in a bid to penetrate the data market, has struggled to have coverage in at least 1000 BS, paid 2.5B for their 4G license earlier this year, feel they need to be protected against @SafaricomLtd ’s "monopoly"

: Basically whining for the same reason as Airtel, Feels they need to be protected against @SafaricomLtd ’s and @AIRTEL_KE ’s “Duopoly”, 'Owned' by the govt so feels entitled to these resources, have struggled to penetrate the mobile market

WHAT ROLE HAS @CA_Kenya PLAYED IN THE STALEMATE?
-CA initially allocate the entire 800MHz to Safaricom, they were challenged in court and later divided the block into 3 blocks and gave them to the 3 major Tier 1 Telcos locking out any other future telcos including @FaibaJTL.

switched off Analogue TV completely, releasing the 700MHz Spectrum. CA promised to prioritize small operators to test the network but said it would use competitive bidding process to allocate commercial license. It is now clearly not willing to auction the spectrum

CA awarded @faibaJTL a trial license for 100k and restricted them to 5 major towns (other telcos didn’t get that much coverage during their 4G trials). These are the highest grossing towns in terms of data revenue. Everything you need to be profitable

WHAT IS NOT BEING SAID ABOUT THE 700MHZ?
It can only operate optimally with 3 commercial operators. Found to be the case in USA where only Verizon and AT&T commercially operate using the band (each has 2 x10 MHz of spectrum) and the Philippines Many will want argue with this.

To that effect, CA has already allocated spectrum to JTL and KCA. (using it for ADS-B) This technically means that only one more commercial operator can be licensed for optimum operations. Unless CA becomes glutton for the 2.5B. Btw they stole our internship money!

Only a few devices support the 700MHz spectrum band. Advancement of its ecosystem has been a global challenge with investment by major device and terminal manufacturers dependent on demand and economies of scale. Big players like Qualcomm are still sitting on the fence.

WHAT IS MY OPINION?
Being a finite national resource, @CA_Kenya should have put aside a portion of the spectrum and reserved it for testing purposes ONLY and made it available to everyone (media, schools, manufacturers etc.) then allocated the rest through a bidding process.

CA should have prioritized media houses in the allocation of the spectrum since they were the initial users and ‘owners’ of the spectrum. But prolly no media house came forward to request allocation. What a shame, their live news coverage would have changed forever.

should be upgraded to a Tier 1 provider and forced to pay the 2.5B for their commercial use of the spectrum. The CA is about fairness and it is only fair if we level the playing field. JTL will enjoy low operational costs being a Tier 2offering Tier 1 services.

The CA even asked @SafaricomLtd to facilitate inter-connection agreements with JTL to enable end to end origination and termination of communication traffic between its networks and all national and international destinations.

One starts to wonder why JTL has gotten such a lucrative deal. Is JTL owned by the govt? Why is the govt doing all this to promote a private carrier competing directly with public carriers? Isn't this the deal we could have given @TelkomKenya to save it from its woes?

Remember that the 700MHz performs better in rural areas? That there is the whole motive. Business! More than 90% of new data consumers by 2020 will come from rural areas. That's why coverage in rural areas is key. The 700 MHz band is perfectly suited for this situation.

Have you seen @FaibaJTL 's price rates? what is the target market again? Rural areas aside, The band can also help improve coverage in urban markets, particularly with good in-building reception. It's a double win!

All said and done, I think Only @SafaricomLtd can fully exploit the capabilities of the 700MHz spectrum. They have always being ahead of themselves in technology wise. Everything, from MPESA, to Gina the slay queen has been phenomenal. They should be testing 5G already.

END OF THREAD.