ott services – TECH POINT MAGAZINE

The Kenyan Government is planning to regulate Whatsapp, Facebook and all OTT services

Staff Editor — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 06:36:03 +0000

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.

OTT tax can now be valid for 24hrs at the same rate of UGX 200 in Uganda

Staff Editor — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 21:02:16 +0000

Over the top (OTT) tax was introduced in July amidst a public protest on the state of social media usage in Uganda. As much as OTT Tax was initially unveiled with a 12-hour validity period, Telecoms have now revised this period to 24hours.

Although MTN is the first telecom to embrace the 24hrs OTT Plan. We are yet to See more telcos joining the league of prolonged OTT tax plans. However, the new 24hrs plan applies to only 1-day purchases where you only spend UGX 200 and not extended to the 7-day and monthly plans.

Subscribing to the new 24hrs OTT tax

Just like the old mechanism required you to have a stable mobile money balance before opting for an OTT payment. To access the new 24hrs validity, you’ll need to have 200/= or more to approve a UGX 200 payment to URA. More so, no rocket science is needed in this process and all you need is to dial *185#, select buy bundles/airtime to access the OTT option or read our telecoms overlook here. Nonetheless, what do you think of the newly revised OTT tax?

Full list of OTT services you’ll pay tax for beginning 1st July 2018

Staff Editor — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 20:14:31 +0000

Social media tax is around the corner and everyone is set looking for solutions in all directions they can flow. The good news is you can bypass social media tax by simply redirecting your device to a different country or downloading that super strong VPN. Among the services you’ll have to pay for in order to access them fully, Facebook and Whatsapp lead the OTT services taxation line.

List of OTT services taxed in Uganda

WhatsApp· Telegram· Freevideo – Mail.Ru· Tumblr· Facebook· IM+· TextMe· Kik· Twitter· IMessenger· TalkU· Chatouts· Truecaller· Yahoo Messenger· LOVOO· Grindr· Google Hangouts· Facetime· Drupe· LiveTalk· Google Alla· Android Messages· Imo· Zalo· Viber· New Messenger· Hangouts Dialer· Kakao Talk· SnapChat· Textra· CallerID· Mood· LINE· Instagram· magicApp· Google Plus· Phone+· WiCall· Skype· LinkedIn· Call Free· WeChat· Badoo· BBM-Free· Signal· InMessage· Hitwe· Voxer Walkie Talkie· StealthChat· TrueCaller· SayHi· Hike· Tinder· Hi5· iPair-Meet· Moments· MeetMe

The above and many more are the officially taxed OTT services in Uganda that will require you to pay Shs 200 effective 1st July 2018.