Mobile phone tariffs lowered

Patrick Chitumba Senior Reporter
MOBILE phone subscribers will be making calls for as little as 15 cents per minute across networks with effect from January 1 following an order by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) to service providers to slash tariffs from 23 cents per minute.

Potraz and mobile service providers have confirmed the development.

Potraz directed mobile operators to reduce charges for voice calls on October 16 this year and set January 1 as the deadline for operators to comply.

The tariff reduction directive is part of Potraz’s implementation of a new pricing structure called the Long Run Incremental Cost (LRIC) model presented in June this year.

Potraz Acting director general Baxton Sirewu yesterday said service providers Telecel, NetOne and Econet had indicated they would adjust charges for voice calls come the New Year.

“There will be a reduction definitely from January 1, 2014,” said Sirewu.

He said the new framework for tariff calculation was cost based.

“The framework for tariff calculation is cost based. It is trite that costs of providing services differ from operator to operator depending on network efficiency among a number of key variables. Therefore the resultant tariffs may differ between and among the concerned operators,” he said.

Sirewu said operators were bound by the terms and conditions of their licences as well as stipulations of relevant statutes.

Telecel public relations manager Francis Chimanda told Chronicle that they had already put in place mechanisms to align their tariffs with the directive from Potraz.

“We are working on an order from the regulator. Telecel has already flighted advertisements in the Press, showing the new tariffs that will come into effect on January 1, 2015,” he said.

“New tariffs effective January 1, 2015, Telecel to Telecel 15cents, Telecel to Econet 16 cents, Telecel to NetOne 16 cents and Telecel to Telone 16cents,” reads the advert in yesterday’s Chronicle.

NetOne public relations officer, Rutendo Chabururuka, said they had complied with the Potraz directive.

According to a NetOne advert in yesterday’s Chronicle, NetOne to NetOne tariff will be 15 cents per minute.

Across other networks, the charge will be 16 cents.

Ranga Mberi, Econet public relations manager could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone went unanswered.

According to a notice from Potraz issued in June, tariffs should be adjusted to 12 cents per minute later in 2015, and then nine cents in 2016.

The interconnection rate, which has been seven cents for several years, will also be reduced to five cents and then four cents, and then three cents by 2016.

The reduction has apparently been effected by Potraz as a response to an outcry from customers who feel the tariffs are very high.

The 23 cents per minute tariffs have essentially been the same since about 2009.

The regulator adopted the LRIC model in order to come up with call tariffs and abandoned the previously used cositu mode.

Cositu is software designed for calculating telephone service costs and it is now outdated.

SMS costs are also expected to drop although data tariffs are said to be in a reasonable range.

Analysts say local tariffs are higher than in the region and the move will bring them nearer the regional benchmark.

The averages for other countries are 16 cents in South Africa, 17 cents in Malawi and 15 cents in Tanzania.

Subscribers also have alternatives to voice communication, like WhatsApp and Facebook which are increasingly accessible to more consumers.