Achievements

To date we have been very active in lobbying government. TESPOK has taken a leading role in spearheading the development of Information and Communications Technologies in the country, and also making access to quality and affordable communications service available to all Kenyans.

TESPOK has been involved in a number of initiatives in its efforts to influence government policy formulation and implementation, and in its position to provide industry guidance and reference in telecommunication matters.

  • Formation of Kenya’s first “Internet Exchange Point” where currently 90 network operators are peering their local traffic thus improving their interconnect speeds and reducing bandwidth costs. This was set up with the aid of CISCO and UNESCO. Through the KIXP, Kenyans can now enjoy faster transmission of electronic mail within the country, and speedy browsing of websites hosted by connected local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The establishment of this exchange point was applauded worldwide as it was the first exchange to be established in Africa outside of South Africa.
  • TESPOK has also participated jointly with the government and the national regulator CA together with a number of other stakeholder bodies in a successful and groundbreaking initiative to bring the registration of Kenyan Internet Domain name under the auspices of KENIC, the national registry for .ke (Kenya’s country domain). This was another first in Africa and the International community has encouraged other countries to adopt Kenya’s model.
  • Lobbying for fair competition amongst Data Operators and opening up of the International Data Gateway market
  • Working with Telkom Kenya to find ways to improve telephone lines availability for ISPs which resulted in Telkom Kenya’s implementation of a project to provide ISPs with Digital E1 access to the PSTN.
  • Lobbying for deregulation of VSAT Services as well as VOIP Consultations.
  • TESPOK has also been involved in the formation of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, a union of Industry Associations from all sectors of the industry acting as one voice to engage the government in policy formulation and implementation. In KEPSA, TESPOK is recognized as a strong Industry voice representing Information and Telecommunication Technologies.
  • Involvement in the discussions on regional Telecommunication initiatives and is a member of the East Africa Regulators of Postal &Telecommunications Organization (EARPTO) influencing regional policy.
  • Participation in WSIS – World Summit on the Information Society, where by in the Tunis phase of the WSIS held in Tunis, on 16th – 18th November 2005, the Kenya Internet Exchange Point was showcased as a key ICT initiative amongst other Kenyan ICT milestones.
  • Participation in policy discussions with policy makers in a number of important legislative processes and forums. These have included the National ICT Policy Draft review as well as contributing recommendations and comments for adoption in the ICT Draft Policy, steered by Kenya ICT Action Network(KICTANet).
  • TESPOK has further interacted with other key stakeholders e.g. Communications Commission of Kenya, Ministry of Information and Communications, the Constitutional Review Commission and Civil Society and further facilitated networking through luncheons, workshops and conferences.
  • Setting up the Industry CSIRT in 2010 to assist KIXP peering members clean up their networks.
  • Forging strategic partnerships with key industry players to improve on service to members such as Internet Society (ISOC), AFRINIC, Netnod, Google,  AMSIX and International Chamber of Commerce.
  • Continuous capacity building for TESPOK Members’ staff on key technical trends and issues
  • The Organization successfully re-branded from Telecommunication Service Providers Association of Kenya to Technology Service Providers Association of Kenya in 2015 ,focusing on the wider Information technology sector rather than the telecommunication sub-sector.
  • In June 2016,TESPOK in partnership with the African Union Commission through the Infrastructure and Energy Department, launched the KIXP Mombasa Point of Presence to keep intra regional internet traffic within the region.
  • In September 2016,TESPOK in partnership with the African Union Commission through the Infrastructure and Energy Department, set up the first GRX (GPRS Roaming Exchange) in Africa for the GSM operator Community to ensure efficient and reliable transporting of data between mobile networks.
  • In March, 2016 TESPOK organized the first workshop on the Best Current Operating Procedures (BCOP) aimed at collecting the best practices known within the operations community and capturing those practices in a series of documents. The “living documents” were peer reviewed by the technical community experts who actually deploy and manage these environments.
  • In June 2017 TESPOK hosted the Africa Internet Summit at the Boma hotel, Nairobi. The event was attended by over 500 key players in the African and global Internet industry. This is one of Africa’s pinnacle ICT events, where discussion on Internet policy development, Internet technologies and infrastructure and access issues, as well as the unique successes and challenges of operating and maintaining the Internet in Africa and beyond take place.
  • In April, 2018 TESPOK partnered with the East Africa Community and the African Union Commission to help develop cross-border interconnection regulations. These largely affect operators who are serving customers across borders. The draft regulations were discussed and documented in April 2018.
  • TESPOK was involved in the development of the Computer Misuse and cybercrime Act in 2016 to 2018. The objective of the Computer Misuse and Cyber Act came into force in May 2018. The act aims to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer systems, programs and data as well as facilitate the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment of cybercrimes.
  • In November 2018, TESPOK hosted   the Regional Internet Security Event (RISE) in Nairobi at the Olesereni Hotel. Technical security officers, internet Service providers and TESPOK members were trained on threat intelligence, cybercrime and cyber security. A total of 100 people were trained by Team Cymru.
  • In May, 2017 TESPOK in partnership with Mozilla Inc.  Conducted a 3 day workshop on Lean Data Practice Capacity Training. The aim of the workshop was to start a practical conversation around how companies can better protect user data, and the multiple incentives to do so. TESPOK and Mozilla inc. were able to train 58 people from different organizations. This helped in building the better understanding of Data minimization requirements.
  • In August 2019, TESPOK was in the taskforce which helped to come up with the Digital Economy Strategy which was later launched by the President of Kenya at the Transform Africa in Rwanda. The Strategy is mainly a template to help countries of the region adapt the digital economy and, in the process, unleashed the new economic possibilities created by future industries and markets.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, TESPOK coordinated passes for the engineers who worked after curfew hours .This was done in Collaboration with Communications Authority. The engineers were able to work and meet their customers’ demands.
  • The Kenya Internet Exchange Point celebrated their 20th Anniversary on 24th February 2022.This was a huge milestone for KIXP looking back from where it started with only 5 ISP’S peering at the exchange to more than 80 peering.
  • TESPOK continues to be involved in coordinating the deployment of the ICT infrastructure alongside other key infrastructure. We have been involved in the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, Eldoret –Kakamega town and other various utility works. This has helped in managing downtime and avoiding destruction of ICT infrastructure during the deployment of other critical utilities.