Kenya's Attorney General's office has registered the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) subsidiary, Signet, paving the way for the mid-May split of the state broadcaster into infrastructure and content provider arms. According to Business Daily, Signet's registration also gives the Ministry of Information and Communications the go-ahead to start constituting its board, which will be in charge of recruiting the top management. The separation of Signet from KBC will boost the confidence of private operators, who have previously been reluctant to use the Signet platform to distribute their digital content, citing a skewed playing field. Information Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo said the move is aimed at making the corporation more competitive while protecting its mandate of informing the public without necessarily pursuing profits. He added that the split has also been informed by the quest to have a new commercial wing that is free of debt and can tap into private financing from banks and the capital markets. The corporation is indebted to the tune of KES 20 billion in principal and interest to Japanese company NEC for equipment supplied in 1991 at a cost of KES 2.3 billion. Signet will have a new MD with Waithaka Waihenya remaining KBC CEO while becoming a member of the Signet board. The new corporation will be owned jointly by the Treasury and KBC and is expected to generate its revenue through hosting digital broadcasting content for third party television broadcasters for a fee. It was not easy to confirm the hosting fees but the industry regulator, Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) says that the price will be determined by the expected competition. Other than Signet, the CCK has also licensed China's Pan Africa Network Group as the second signal distributor.
(Source : TELECOM PAPER)
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