The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has officially rebranded to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). The rebrand comes with an enhanced scope and jurisdiction with an added mandate to develop and review Regulations on SIM card registration for the regulator. Also, its mandate in regulating electronic transactions now includes cyber security while the Broadcasting regulatory function has equally expanded to include administering broadcast content, developing media standards and monitoring compliance .
Speaking during the launch of the new identity, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta noted the country’s fast adoption of ICTs and called for the need to have a strong regulatory framework in line with the ever changing industry trends. He said the fast developments were an indicator of the of a vibrant ICT sector. The current government spend on ICTs is more than 5.16 Million US Dollars with a planned increase to 5.86 billion in 2017. Government also plans to increase the budgetary allocation to ICTs and also spend at least 7.8 billion on infrastructure development in the coming decade.
President Kenyatta also launched the Kenya’s National Cybersecurity Framework that includes the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and the Kenya Computer Incident Response Team Co-ordination Centre (KE-CIRT/CC). The two facilities are established to promote efficient management of critical internet resources and facilitate the investigation and prosecution of cybercrime. The KE-CIRT/CC provides early warning and advisory services for cyber incidents while the Public Key Infrastructure will facilitate the issuance of virtual identities to secure online transactions in the country.
CA will soon open four regional offices in Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nyeri to spread its reach to Counties.
At the rebrand event, the Authority announced that it remitted Ksh. 4,095,124,575 to Treasury which is its net surplus for the Financial Year ended 30th June 2013. It also announced that it had sent a further USD 27 Million which are fees that were paid by Safaricom Ltd for renewal of its communications licence for another 10 years.