GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 9853

Pursuant therefore to Section 23 part (1&2a) of the Kenya Information and Communications Act (KICA), 1998 and Sections 14,15,16,17 and 18 of the Kenya Information and Communications (Licensing and Quality of Service) Regulations, 2010, the Director-General of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) hereby notifies the general public and key stakeholders (Mobile Network Operators and other interested stakeholders) that the Authority has adopted a new framework for the Assessment of Quality of Service (QoS) for mobile services in the country. A comprehensive version of the new framework is available on the Authority's website at www.ca.go.ke. The various components of this new framework will take effect on various dates starting from 1st of December 2017. 2. Highlights of the new QoS Assessment Framework 2.1 Scope of Services to be covered The scope of the new QoS Assessment Framework has been expanded beyond voice and now comprises of Mobile Voice Service, Short Message Services (SMS) and Data/Internet services. 2.2 Quality of Service Assessment Components The new Q0S Assessment Framework is based on three main components that constitute the overall assessment of a service quality. These are Network Performance (NP), End-to-End Quality of Service, and Quality of Experience (Q0E) as expounded below and in Table 1: • Network Performance (NP) - gives an indication of the quality of the network infrastructure, • End-to-End Quality of Service - gives the indication of the quality of the network infrastructure together with the end user devices. • Quality of Experience (Q0E) - gives the indication of the quality of the network infrastructure together with the end user devices from the perception of the customer. Table 1: Quality of Service Assessment Components Type of (QoS) Assessment Component Nature of the Q0S Assessment Component Source of Q0S Assessment Data Network Performance The Quality of the Network Infrastructure without terminal Devices Operator's Network Management Systems End-to-End (QoS) Performance The Overall Quality of the Network including Standardize Devices Drive/Walk field tests Quality of Experience (Q0E) Overall Consumer Experience. Customer Satisfaction Surveys 23rd February, 2018 THE KENYA GAZETTE 487 2.3 Performance Indicators (KPI) for Network Performance and End-to-End Quality of Service and their Targets Details of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and targets for both the Network Performance and End-to-End Quality of Service components for the various services whose quality service is under consideration are as indicated in Table 2 below. Table 3: Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Network Performance and End-to-End Quality of Service and their Targets Service Sub KPI Parameter Target Mobile Telephony (Voice) Network Coverage (Population. and Geographic) Coverage/Roll Out > -103 dBm - Network Availability Received Signal Level 95dBm Network Accessibility Unsuccessful Calls Service Integrity Call Set-up Time <1 2s (4G) <8s (Others) Voice Quality (MOS) > 3.4 Service Retainability Handover Success Rate > 96% Dropped Calls <2% SMS Network Accessibility Successful SMS Ratio 95% Service Availability Completion Rate for SMS >95% Service Integrity End-to-End delivery time for SMS 95% in less than 30s Data transfer! Internet access Network Accessibility Latency <looms Jitter <5Oms Service Availability Data transfer failure ratio 1 0 for upload <10% for download Throughput of successful data transfer >85% of contractual throughput - Service Integrity Ratio of Packet Loss 1/1000 Network Accessibility Internet Accessibility 98% Service Availability H1TP set-up failure ratio HTFP set-up time >95% in less than 20s HTTP Completion failure ratio 90% HTTP Completion Time 95% in less than 20s HTTP generic scenario availability >85% 2.4 Quality of Experience (Q0E) Data on the Quality of Experience (Q0E) component will be based on Annual Customer Satisfaction Surveys, which will give indicators on customers' perception relating to a variety of QoS aspects such as Network Availability, Service Quality, Service Tariffs, and Customer Care among others. 2.5 Aggregation of Q0S Assessment Components In order to arrive at the overall Q0S assessment of a service the above 3 components shall be aggregated based on a weighting system, which shall be adjusted progressively towards the desired weighting ratios that will be attained in year 3 as indicated in table I below. Table 2: Weighting Structure of Q0S Assessment Components Year Component Weighting in Assessment NP End-to-End QoS QoE 1st Year 0% 100% 0% 2nd Year 30% 70% 0% 3rd Year and beyond 25% 60% 15% 2.6 Data Capture & Sourcing Approach. 2.6.1 Overall Network Performance Respective network operators and services providers will submit to CA on monthly basis the network coverage and the overall network performance data and analysis based on data obtained from the operations & maintenance facilities of their network. Raw quality of service data shall be transmitted automatically by the operators' systems to a CA's server on an hourly basis. In addition, operators will analyse the same data and submit the respective reports in an agreed format to CA. The reports should have sufficient details and the sampling methodology specified in order to enable the Authority to verif' the accuracy of the report submitted. Recommendation ITU-T E.804 will be the general guiding standard in this respect. 2.6.2 End-to-end quality of service (Q0S): The Authority, or its appointed agent(s), will use any or all of the following mechanisms to extract data on end-to end QoS parameters. Specialized stationary or mobile units. Subscriber handsets installed with appropriate software and programmed to transmit raw data to a central server Traditional walk/drive-test system 2.6.3 Quality of Experience(Q0E) Q0E will be determined based an annual Customer Satisfaction Surveys undertaken with a view to eliciting customers' views relating to Network Availability, Service Quality, Service Tariffs, and Customer Care aspects among others. Treatment of Results and Non-Compliances A licensee will be deemed compliant in respect of Q0S if it attains an overall aggregate performance achievement of 80% or above. 3.1 Publication of Results The results of the QoS performance assessment of each network operator shall be published on CA's website andlor in local dailies for the information of the public and the ICT industry as a whole. 3.2 Enforcement of Non-Compliance In the event of failure by a Licensee to attain the minimum compliance level of 80%, such licensee will be notified of the contraventions, remedial orders given and penalties applied in accordance with the prevailing legal and regulatory provisions in this regard. Any falsification of data/reports by a licensee will attract severe penalties in addition to other measures that CA may prefer. Transition from Current Framework to New Framework This framework has been developed based on intemational standards and best practices and has also taken into account inputs from various respondents received through both the stakeholders' and public consultation phases. Given the incorporation of additional components in the assessment framework for mobile systems and services QoS, the implementation will be carried out in phases to provide for a smooth transition. The table below provides for the various implementation phases. Phasing Period QoS Assessment Components & Contribution Ration Phasing Framework Implementation (QoE) End-to-End (E-lo-E) Network Performance (NP) Quality of Experienci 2017/18 100% 0% 0% PilotingNP 2018/2019 70% 30% 0% Implementation of NP and Piloting Q0E 2019/2020 and beyond 60% 25% 15% All 3 QoS Assessment components in use Repeal of