Airtel and Telkom Appeal over Merger Conditions Set By Competition Authority
by Kiruti ItimuAirtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya have filed a review of their proposed merger to the Competition Authority of Kenya over merger conditions.
In a review case no CT/005/2020 filed on 10th January 2020, the two entities want a review of the merger terms that were stipulated by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) as conditions to fulfill the merger.
The watchdog gave Telkom and Airtel the go-ahead to merge on December 13th but had stipulated a number of terms before the merger is done. The two companies want a number of conditions reviewed. These are:
- Review of the transfer of operating and frequency licences imposed by CAK and be set aside in its entirety
- Review of the condition that Telkom Kenya’s 900Mhz and 1800Mhz frequencies be returned to the Government of Kenya once they expire
- Review of the banning of any entry to any form of sale agreement within 5 years imposed by the CAK
- Review of the condition that prevents commercial negotiations with the government in relation to access to fibre managed by Telkom Kenya as imposed by the CAK.
- Review of the imposed CAK condition in relation to retention period of employees from two years to twelve months.
- Review of the condition for provision of annual reports to two years from the date of approval
They filed this petition before the Competition Tribunal which is a major case to be handled by the committee.
“The Competition Tribunal invites interested parties to make submission/proposals/comments to the Tribunal in regard to the application for review within the next thirty (30) days of this notice for consideration by the Tribunal,” the gazette notice said.
Well it seems that this proposed merger has a few hurdles to jump through before it is finalized and it will take a while for it to happen.
