The Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) has finally approved the applications by mobile operators Safaricom and Airtel to acquire the assets and customers of Essar unit Yu. The approval was announced by CAK Director General Francis Wangusi but is subject to the three parties meeting certain conditions. Wangusi told a media briefing that the regulator has provided a transition period of six months to allow for a seamless transfer of services from Essar Telecom to the two buyers.
Among the conditions are that all firms involved be up to date in their payment of regulatory fees, that they ensure that all Yu subscribers retain their numbers and related contracts in the transition period and that Airtel submits the proposed Service Level Agreement (SLA) for subscribers acquired from Essar Telecom.
Airtel seeks to acquire Yu's subscribers, GSM licences and subscriber contracts while Safaricom wishes to take over Essar Telecom's infrastructure at 453 sites and associated agreements, transfer of the ground leases, Essar's data centre, its existing office space and related infrastructure, its right to use the spectrum and residual assets including IT infrastructure.
Safaricom and Airtel have also been asked to submit their framework and an implementation plan that shows their commitment to facilitate national roaming to subscribers on all mobile networks.
