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In the year 2020, the National Telecommunications Commission passed into laws five (5) regulations starting from licensing, spectrum, quality of service, type approval and subscriber identification and registration with the aim of promoting predictability, transparency, accountability and market stability.
Moreover, the Commission introduced a new settlement rate between mobile network operators (MNOs) of Le 470 per minute ( called mobile Termination Rate/MTR) for all off- net voice calls. Furthermore, a floor price of Le 590 per minute was prescribed for all voice calls and maintained the price ceiling of Le 650 per minute. That setting of the floor price and ceiling created a Le 60 per minute window for MNOs to charge for voice calls.
The establishment of the floor price was to ensure that market price of voice calls do not fall below a level that would threaten the financial existence of the Telecommunications operators, while the price ceiling would ostensibly protect consumers from conditions that would make Telecommunication services prohibitively expensive.
Based on the outcome of the recently concluded benchmarking, the floor had been reduced from Le 590 per minute to Le 300 per minute bringing the prescribed floor price almost at part with other countries with similar economies.
In the new year speech tother nation, president talk en do Bio said” his gov’t has reduced Telecom rates and expanded coverage in a more competitive telecom sector, increased Internet penetration, legislative frame works and other reforms in the Telecommunications sector.
NATCOM perceives communications as a social good that every person should have access to at an affordable cost with better quality of services as demonstrated in the current reforms in tariffs within the sector.
The by-product of price regulations in December 2021 has much more benefits to both consumers and operators as it removes trade barriers that usually increase cost on customers making off-calls.
