An expired license dispute between Airtel Kenya and the Communications Authority of Kenya has been going on for seven years. Both parties have agreed to close litigation outside of the court case. And so, as part of the deal decided last week, Airtel Kenya has agreed to pay the telecom regulator Sh2 billion ($17.5 million) for the renewal of its licenses.
The payment would be made over the course of the next two years, with no lump sum. A Business Daily report claims that the license for Airtel Kenya has been revoked since 2015.
Ezra Chiloba, the Director-General of the Communications Authority of Kenya, said the dispute between its organisation and Airtel has been on for a long time over the Essar deal. The disagreement has been on it for the past seven years, “But I am glad to report that we struck a deal and this is a major achievement for us.”
“Taxpayers are guaranteed of receiving about Sh2 billion in the next two years. They came up with a payment plan, which we agreed on. The idea was to have this matter resolved so that they can also start focusing on investing properly in this particular space,”
Airtel paid Sh752 ($6.976 million) in 2014 to buy yuMobile from Essar Telecom Kenya, which was owned by Essar. According to the company, Kenya’s Communications Authority had consented to consolidate yuMobile’s operating license with its own at the time of acquisition. But when the deal was done, the telecom regulator said that Airtel had to pay Sh2 billion ($17.5 million) to keep its license.
yuMobile’s Kenyan license was not immediately transferred to Airtel, according to the country’s telecom regulator. As a result, the telecommunications company is required to pay to renew its operating license.
Airtel Kenya is expected to pay the first installment this week, making it possible for the telecom operator to seek an exemption from a rule that requires local shareholders to own at least a 30 percent stake in telecom companies by March 2024.
