NAIROBI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government has called on mobile phone service providers to lower tariff charges to increase the usage of mobile phones in the country.

    Prime Minister Raila Odinga said Kenyans are concerned that telephone charges especially for roaming services have been exorbitant and beyond the reach of many and expressed confidence that increased competition in the sector will have a positive impact on pricing and services offered.

    "There is need for mobile phone service providers to address the issue of costs. I believe charges could come down further and that would get more people talking, more businesses running and more people employed," he said.

    Speaking on Wednesday night when he launched the country's fourth mobile phone operator, Econet Wireless Kenya (EWK) services, into the Kenyan market, Odinga said people wanted reliable and affordable services that are also efficient and diverse in what they offer.

    He noted that the mobile phone had great power and influence on the lives of Kenyans even in the rural areas.

    He cautioned that the fact that Kenyans especially in the rural areas who were unable or even need landlines had embraced the mobile phone so fast and so religiously should be lesson to those entering the market of the capacity of Kenyans to move on and leave them behind if they did not meet expectations.

    Odinga pointed out that the government had embraced competition as a way of improving on both the quality and quantity of services provided, and emphasized that it would make competition ethical and fair.

    "During the monopoly in the telecommunication sector, services deteriorated and dwindled at the same time. Today, we have embraced the tested philosophy that the private sector, operating in a competitive environment is the best safeguard to the interest of our people who consume services," he said.

    The PM stated that since the liberalization of the telecommunication sector, especially in the provision of the mobile phone and Internet services, the country had reaped huge benefits in monetary terms and in the expansion of services, improvement in quality and in reduction of costs both in the Internet and mobile phone services.

    He emphasized that the government would continue to provide an enabling environment to ensure the telecommunications sector contributed to the development of the economy by providing rapid, efficient, reliable and affordable communications throughout the country.

    Saying that information was power, Odinga observed that when people talk and share information they come up with ideas on a wide range of areas, including business, education and health. Nobody is in a better position to play this role of information sharing than the mobile phone service provider," he said.

    The premier at the same time stated that Kenya was positioning itself for the provision of offshore outsourcing services to benefit from more information services businesses from abroad.

    He observed that with political stability, Kenya could be one of the world's fastest developing outsourcing destinations due to the large English speaking, educated population, low costs and proximity to and traditional ties with European and Middle Eastern companies.

    "Already we have providers of this service who serve customers in the United States, Canada and Europe. They employ about 3,000 people mostly youth," he said.

    Saying the biggest obstacle has been the local data and telecommunication infrastructure, the Premier noted to address the challenge, the government had invested 100 million U.S. dollars in the East African Marine Systems, an undersea cable to connect Mombasa with the United Arab Emirates.

    He said the project slated for completion by 2010 is expected to bring the cost of connectivity down to the levels in India. Odinga added that the government plans to complete a 5,000-seat technology park and export promotion zone by 2012.

    The Minister of State for Public Service Dalmas Otieno said the government was keen on redressing the huge disparity of telephone usage between the rural and urban areas.

    Otieno challenged telephone service providers to roll their services to the rural areas to make communication accessible to all at affordable rates.

    Otieno, who represented the Minister for Information and Communication Samuel Poghisio, noted that expansion and improvement of telecommunication infrastructure in Kenya would transform the country into a communication hub.