TELECOMMUNICATION
interconnection rates between mobile service providers drop from 115 to 34.92
shillings per minute effective today. Meanwhile, the government plans to build
a monitoring telecommunication system by June, this year.
Speaking to the
'Daily News' on Thursday, the Deputy Minister for Communication, Science and
Technology, Mr January Makamba, hailed the move to reduce interconnection
charges, noting that the government plans to build a Telecoms Traffic
Monitoring System by June to control and improve telecommunication in the
country.
In a bold move, the
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), last month announced the
new rates after reviewing telecommunications charges in the country.Mr Makamba
explained that the monitoring system will ensure telecommunication is improved
in the country, including monitoring communication time.
He explained that
from 2008 to 2009 the telecommunication charges went down after the National
Fibre Optic backbone was constructed. However, interconnection rates remained
the same."To ensure that the lowered interconnection rates are enjoyed
fully by the public, the government is constructing a monitoring system that
will monitor communication in the country. The target is to remove interconnection
charges as it's the case in some countries," he explained.
He said that the
Telecoms traffic monitoring system will also improve telecommunication in the
country and ensure government revenue from telephone service providers in the
country.Speaking to the 'Daily News' on the move to reduce and harmonize
interconnection rates, TTCL Communications Manager, Mr Amin Mbaga expressed his
delight in the wake of the move, which he said is for the benefit of the
public.
Mr Mbaga said as
much as telecommunication companies are reaping hefty profits, they should
ensure the service provided are of low costs to the public, who use
telecommunication services to bring about development at individual level and
nationally.Airtel Communications Manager, Mr Jackson Mbando affirmed that the
telecommunication company will implement the directives, as TCRA has directed.
Although Tigo
Company has started issuing adverts to its users about new offers following the
new interconnection rates, the company's Communications officer Ms Jacquiline
Nnunduma declined to comment, explaining that she's not the spokesperson for
the issue.When announcing the move to reduce call interconnection rates, the
TCRA Director General, Prof John Nkoma, said the cost would come down to 32.40/-.
The rate for 2014
will be 32/40 dropping to 30/58 by 3015 and further to 28/57 in 2016. The rate
will be 26/96 in 2017. Prof Nkoma said the regulatory body conducted an inquiry
involving all telecommunications network operators and other stakeholders as per
TCRA Procedures for Rules of Inquiry of 2004.
According to him,
the decision was made by a panel of experts from different universities and
international organizations after conducting a cost study of each mobile phone
firm and coming up with conclusions in accordance with the laws and regulations
governing the ICT sector in the country.
Prof Nkoma said
while voice call termination rates for 2013 will be 34.90/- down from 115/-,
the rate for 2014 will be 32.40/-, in 2015 the rates will be 30.58/- by 2015
and further to 28.57/- in 2016 and 26.96/- in 2017. He said in reducing the
rates, the authority had taken into account that interconnection rates across
the world have dropped in the past five years.
"We
established that the current rates are high and customers are forced to carry
either more than one mobile phone or SIM (subscriber identification module)
card because of the costs of making a call to a different mobile firm," he
said. With the application of the new rates, there will be no need for a person
to carry more than one phone or SIM cards.
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