South African regulator proposes cut in mobile termination rates

South Africa’s telecoms regulator plans to halve the charges that people pay for making calls to mobile phones on different networks.
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa proposes that the country’s telcos cut their mobile termination…

South Africa’s telecoms regulator plans to halve the charges that people pay for making calls to mobile phones on different networks.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa proposes that the country’s telcos cut their mobile termination rates from ZAR0.89 (US$0.12) per minute to ZAR0.40 by July 2012.

By contrast, the operators only wanted to cut their rates to ZAR0.80 by October 2012 – twice the level of the regulator’s proposal for the maximum charge.

The regulator will hold public meetings in June to debate its proposals to cut termination rates.

Europe has seen a lively debate over mobile termination rates with consumer groups pressuring national and regional telecoms regulators to make prices more closely reflect the operators’ costs for receiving calls on their networks.