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Antony Adika relies on his mobile phone to stay in touch with his clients. As the Creative Director of
F&T Designs, he recalls with nostalgia the days when his only technological link with his clients was a
public telephone booth. In 2000, public telephones were few, unreliable and most often vandalized.
As a result, business was slow because clients had no way of reaching him conveniently. It was hard
to manage appointments with clients as he had no office. With his mobile phone, Antony can not
only manage appointments effectively, he can also keep track of his employee, who is usually out in
the field making deliveries or running errands.
As a designer, it is necessary for Antony to maintain direct contact with clients and suppliers even
when he is out of his home office. As he puts it, “The nature of my business involves a lot of person to
person interaction. I may be either getting a design brief, instruction, a sample or managing some
print work for quality assurance.”
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Click on the image to Download the Organisational Profile of F&T Designs (PDF)
F&T Designs were the winners of the KICTAnet Logo design competition. KICTANET stands for the Kenya ICT Action Network.
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Over the past five years, F&T Designs has grown in activity and
profitability. Antony credits the growth to his availability on a
fulltime
basis, an expanding network of acquaintances and the increased access
to technological solutions. The business started as a hobby while
Antony was still a Civil Engineering student at Moi University. Using
his artistic talents he would design cards and T-shirts for other
students. One
of the earlier significant contracts was the printing of T-Shirts for
the graduating class of 2000. Similar contracts provided Antony with an
income even as he continued applying for Civil Engineering jobs. When
the business proved more rewarding, he dedicated all his time to it and
has only been employed for a total of eleven months over the past six
years. He has been his own happy boss the rest of the time.
It is during that very same period that there have been numerous
changes in the telecommunications sector in Kenya. The most memorable
change was the restructuring of Safaricom Limited to accommodate
investment by Vodafone and the introduction of a second
mobile phone service provider - Kencell Communications Limited - in
2000. Antony did not immediately acquire a mobile phone because the
cost was restrictive as he had no regular income. Later, the rapid drop
in the cost of mobile phones and marginal reduction in tariffs
justified the
purchase of a mobile phone for both personal and business use.
Antony Adika - F&T Designs
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Technology has become an important tool in the design business and
Antony views all telecommunications solutions in terms of their value
to his business. For instance, he uses email to correspond and exchange
documents with clients while the Internet provides a source of images,
ideas and design literature. With increased competition amongst
internet service providers and with cheaper connectivity options for
cyber cafés, Antony has found the internet both affordable and
beneficial to his business. Improved access to the internet has
provided him with the ability to research exhaustively on demanding
design assignments. Over the past six years, the cost of accessing the
internet through cyber cafés has reduced from over five shilling a
minute to an average of one shilling per minute.
Inspite of the reforms in telecommunications, Antony’s business has
never had a fixed-line phone. This is mainly due to the set-up and
maintenance costs as well as the fact that the mobile phone seems to
serve him well. With the convenient tariff options on the two mobile
phone networks, Antony is able to choose the appropriate tariff for a
particular purpose. He maintains two SIM cards – one for each network –
and uses them depending on the nature of the phone call he needs to
make. He credits this increased choice of service to the sustained
competition between Safaricom and Celtel - the two mobile telephony
companies.
However, Antony feels that the cost of communication is still high and
increased competition may lead to a cost reduction. He has only
recently learnt of the new wireless landline phones and may consider
installing one if the system proves to make business sense. Dropping
computer prices and increase in turnover enabled F&T Designs to
acquire computers, scanners and the much needed printers which have
resulted in increased efficiency. Combined
with the convenience of a mobile phone and easier access to the
internet, the computers have enabled Antony to run a profitable
business from home. This has enabled him to remain in close parental
contact with his three year old son.
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Samples of designs by F&T Designs
Their design services range from design of corporate identity,
promotional material such as T-shirts, posters, brochures, design and
typesetting of magazines, newsletters, and many more...
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Although he has not used voice over IP telephony – which involves
the routing of phone calls over the internet - Antony acknowledges that
it presents an opportunity for F&T Designs to get clients from
other countries at relatively low communication cost. The decision by
the industry regulator in 2005 to allow competition in such services has made communication with
overseas clients more affordable. As a business user of telecommunication services, Antony hopes to see a reduction in
telephone tariffs on both mobile and fixed lines. He also hopes that increased competition and technological advancements would reduce the
cost of a reliable high speed connection to internet service providers. Like many other Kenyans, Antony believes that the government should
protect consumers of telecommunication services from the ongoing exploitation by the existing providers and hopes that non-governmental
organisations will take an active role in setting up infrastructure in remote areas of the country.
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