ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has told the different regulators itching to lay their hands on American film service Netflix to hold their horses pending direction from the government.
He said the ministry has opened discussions that will lead to formulation of regulations for companies classified as Over The Top (OTT) service providers in a favourable manner, to retain the businesses locally.Netflix has this year deployed its video streaming services in Kenya sparking various opinions between the Communications Authority of Kenya and the Kenya Films and Classification Board (KFCB) regarding regulation.
"We want the businesses of OTTs to actually be based here. There is a huge debate as to whether we will be billing or charging Netflix, and I think OTT should feel comfortable to invest in Kenya," said Mr Mucheru in an interview on Tuesday.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
"The government is responsible for regulation, policy will come from government then it will be regulated but this will take some time. Regulators have to wait."
While CA on Monday said Netflix is exempt from local broadcasting regulations, the KFCB said the company must be subjected to Kenya film classifications before selling content locally.
"Netflix is an OTT provider where subscribers get the content through Internet protocol, more or less like You Tube and as such we are not going to ask them to come for a licence," the regulator said.
Mr Ezekiel Mutua, KFCB chief executive, on the other hand said it has written to Netflix raising its concerns on regulation, since it has the mandate to fully regulate its cyber space.Facebook has partnered with Airtel Africa in plans to supply high speed Internet using drones to remote parts of Kenya this year.
As soon as it deploys its services, questions on whether it should be regulated locally are bound to arise.
The issue of regulating OTT players has been a subject of discussion in the whole of Africa with telecom firms urging their governments to begin monitoring WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook and You Tube for competing them in voice and text message revenue.