The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has introduced a Quality of Service Monitoring System (QSMS) to measure the quality of services mobile network operators offer. The regulator will now assess SMS and mobile internet services compared to the former system that evaluated voice calls only.
The QSMS will measure network performance, customer experience, and end-to-end performance that assesses the rate of dropped calls, voice/data quality, and call connection.
The system was operationalised on July 1, 2018, and will be fully implemented over three years. In addition, the QSMS is in line with the “section 23 of the Kenya Communications Act, 1998, that mandates the Authority to ensure that the licensed telecommunications operators and service providers offer good quality services.”
The New System
The regulator will require the mobile operators to submit raw data on their network performance every hour while it will include the findings of its yearly customer satisfaction surveys in the final QoS report.
“The acquisition of the new system is a clear commitment on the part of my Ministry and the CA in ensuring that quality telecommunication services are delivered to the consumers,” said ICT CS Joe Mucheru during the launch.
Francis Wangusi, CA’s Director General said: “Over the years, the Authority has been releasing the quality of service reports of the measurements in line with global best practice. While the quality of service improvements have been noticed over the years, none of the MNOs have met the set threshold of measuring the prescribed parameters.”
When the new framework is fully implemented, the end-to-end quality of service measure will contribute to 60 per cent of the score awarded to telcos. On the other hand, network performance and customer experience will account for 25 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. To avoid penalties, operators will have to acquire a score of 80 per cent.
“We are working with the CA to ensure that we offer quality voice and data services,” Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore said last week after the conclusion of the annual general meeting.
