Over the Top services (OTT) as commonly known in the Ugandan and Zambian circles for the tax hiked on them are a key Government’s focus to earn extra GDP figures. Well, Kenya now has plans to implement a new OTT law different from what we already know through its communications commission.
The communications authority of Kenya (CA) is currently in search of a consultant who can merge the services by Whatsapp, Facebook, Skype among other services into fully regulating them. Imagine if the Government could decide when and how you can read messages off Whatsapp? That’s what the CA is aimed at in conjunction with top telecoms like Safaricom.
While OTT tax was introduced in Uganda on similar grounds of regulating social media usage. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the OTT bill passed in Kenya even when the commission focuses on simply controlling how Kenyans use all these services. However, this would kill the ‘free for everyone’ meaning and unlikely provoke sanctions by all these social media channels to Africa as a protest towards Government policies.
In Kenya, Safaricom and its lead telecoms dominating the same space are directly regulated by the commission (CA). The direct regulation of OTT services in Kenya would mean a simple tax may as well be introduced as the story is in Uganda and Zambia at the moment. But then, What do you think about the Kenyan commissions’ move to regulate social media platforms? Share with us your thoughts in the comments section below.