Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Tuesday September 15th, 2015

Wangusi tells Airtel Kenya to compete or pack and go… Google launches Kenya’s Samburu Park on Street View… Garden City tenants to benefit from largest solar carport system in Africa… These and more on our wrap-up today…

CA boss tells Airtel Kenya to compete or pack and go

AIRTEL has been told by the Communication Authority director general Francis Wangusi to pack and leave if it cannot keep up with competition. He said this yesterday on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Forum 2015 in Nairobi. He further accused the Indian owned mobile operator of using “backstreet channels” to deal with its grievances mainly on the renewal of its licence and the allocation of a 4G spectrum to rival Safaricom.

Shola Taylor takes oath of office during opening of CTO Forum in Nairobi 

Shola Taylor; Secretary-General Elect of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation took his oath of office during the opening of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation Forum 2015 held this week in Nairobi, Kenya. The oath ceremony took place in the presence of over 400 participants, including representatives of over 30 member countries who are attending the Forum ahead of the Organisation’s Council meeting to take place on 16 – 17 September 2015. Appointed in June this year, Mr Taylor will officially assume office on 17 September 2015.

Google launches Kenya’s Samburu Park on Street View

Google Street View has launched its maps of Kenya’s Samburu National Park, which allows internet users to take a virtual safari in the conservancy. The initiative, launched together with the charity Save the Elephants, wants to promote wildlife conservation. The project aims to tell the stories of the elephant families in the park.

Top tech enthusiasts from Kenya to judge this year’s #UrbanHackDayKE

Some of Kenya’s top technology enthusiasts are set to be judges at a hackday event dubbed; UrbanHackDayKE which is organized by UN-Habitat, the United Nations organization for sustainable cities and @iLabAfrica. The judges who are set to preside over the event, set to take place from the 25th-26th of September at the Strathmore University, are as follows; George Rabar, Kate Kiguru, Judith Owigar, Robert Yawe and Dr. Joseph Sevilla

Kenya regulator rejects claims of Safaricom favouritism

Kenya’s telecommunications sector regulator has defended against claims from Airtel that the regulator favour Safaricom for the issue of 4G spectrum and by dragging its feet on enforcement of market dominance rules. The Communications Authority of Kenya’s director general Francis Wangusi said he was not aware of any difficulties that Airtel had faced with the spectrum that it was allocated to test its 4G network.

Garden City tenants to benefit from largest solar carport system in Africa 

Africa’s largest solar carport was unveiled by Principal Secretary Eng. Joseph K Njoroge today at an opening event at Garden City Mall. The solar electricity it generates is being used by the retail tenants to power facilities such as the lights and escalators in the Mall. The solar carport was enabled through a partnership between SolarAfrica and Solarcentury, who opened its Nairobi office in 2013.