Voice, data quality tops list of unresolved consumer woes to telecoms regulator

Three quarters of consumer complaints to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) relating to quality of service by mobile network providers in the quarter to September 2023 remained unresolved, marking one of the slowest responses to complaints.

The communications regulator received 20 complaints about poor quality of voice and data service by mobile network operators (MNOs) during the period but solved only five.

The CA received a total of 156 complaints from consumers during the period on various breaches by telecommunications service providers such as quality of voice and data service, fraudulent calls or SMS, inaccurate billing, unfair trade practices, confidentiality or privacy breaches and service delays.

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Quality parameters

Others include frequency interference, unauthorised charges or subscriptions, electromagnetic radiation, inappropriate content, nuisance, criminal use of services or facilities, delivery delays, service interruptions, e-commerce and broadcasting among others.

“In the quarter under review, 156 complaints were received and processed. These were complaints escalated to the Authority for failure of resolution by the service providers,” said the CA in its latest consumer complaints and enquiries report.

The Authority is mandated to protect consumers from poor service by operators and monitors quality for the three mobile network operators to ensure their standards meet quality parameters.

In the year to June 2022, for instance, Safaricom recorded the highest compliance rate of 95 percent, followed by Airtel Kenya at 78.6 percent, while Telkom Kenya scored the least with a compliance rate of 71.4 percent.

Complaints regarding confidentiality and privacy breaches were the most forwarded to the regualtor (46) during the quarter in review.

The Authority resolved all of the cases leading to one of the highest joint responses.

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Theft of data and breach of privacy remains a major concern in Kenya given the digitised nature of the country’s economy.

Sensitive data

The vast majority of data breaches are caused by stolen or weak credentials, which are exploited by cyber criminals to access sensitive data such as bank accounts and mobile wallets.

Other complaints that were fully resolved during the period include those relating to inappropriate media or content, nuisance, electromagnetic radiation, e-commerce and frequency interference.

The CA resolved 119 out of the 156 complaints it received, leading to a score of 76.2 percent.

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