Airtel has filed a petition with the Competition Authority of Kenya seeking measures against Safaricom for charging lower tariffs for calls within its network, compared with those for calls to subscribers of its rivals.

CAK director-general Francis Wang’ombe said a decision on the petition received on September 15 would be made in consultation with two other regulators — Central Bank of Kenya and the Communications Authority of Kenya — and the ICT Ministry.

Airtel said the difference in voice tariffs lock in customers to Safaricom and distorts the playing field. 

“On-net/offnet price differentials for voice services deny smaller networks the ability to effectively compete by distorting competition and removing the possibility of a level playing field,” reads the letter signed by Adil El Youssefi, Airtel chief executive officer.

The accusation has to do with Safaricom charging Ksh2 ($0.02) per minute to call on-net customers between 10pm and 8am, and Ksh4 ($0.04) per minute for offnet calls in the same period.

“This price differential amounts to imposing unfair selling prices to equivalent transactions and negatively impacts and discourages those callers who wish to call Airtel customers,” reads the letter. 

During the day, Safaricom charges Ksh4 ($0.04) for all calls irrespective of whether they originate or terminate within its network.

“Airtel could have up to 30 per cent of the market share from the current 16 per cent, but Kenya is the toughest market in East Africa for Airtel,” said Christophe Soulet, the Airtel Africa executive director.

The renewal of the company’s operating licence is to be discussed by the Communications Authority of Kenya board on Monday, September 28, but the firm is not in danger, Francis Wangusi, Communications Authority of Kenya’s director-general said.

CAK and Communications Authority of Kenya have been accused of dragging their feet in declaring Safaricom dominant across almost all segments of telecommunication services. Safaricom said it should not be punished by “being declared dominant” for its innovations and investments, which have enabled the firm to rise above competitors.

Safaricom has the highest market share in the segments of data, voice, SMS and mobile money. According to CA’s sector statistics for the third quarter of the 2014/15 financial year, Safaricom led rivals with a 67.1 per cent  share of mobile subscriptions, 71.7 per cent of voice, 91.6 of short text messages (SMS), 77.4 per cent of mobile money and 65 per cent of the mobile data segment.

According to the European Commission, the bigger the market share, and the longer the period of time over which it is held, the more likely a firm is to become dominant. If a company has a market share of less than 40 per cent, it is unlikely to be dominant.

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