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Partner states remove tariff charges on calls and SMSs

Saturday March 21 2015
call

The move means that subscribers will make calls free of taxes when outside their network area. PHOTO | TEA GRAPHIC

The cost of sending a text message across borders will be cheaper for mobile phone subscribers in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda after the three countries agreed to remove tariff charges for short message services (SMS) in a bid to fully implement the One Network Area protocol they adopted last year.

This means that subscribers will make calls free of taxes when outside their network area.

The cost of an SMS while roaming in Rwanda is US cents 12 in bundles and US cents 22 out of bundle; Uganda US cents 12 in bundle and US cents 22 out of bundles while in Kenya sending an SMS will cost US cents 11 in bundles and US cents 20 out of bundle.

During the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Summit in Kigali held on March 6, the three partner states agreed that the wholesale price for SMSs within the region shall not be more than US 3 cents per SMS, inclusive of all applicable taxes, while the retail price shall not exceed US 6 cents per SMS.

Retail rate

The retail rate is the cost incurred in distributing SMSs and calls within a country. The wholesale rate is the agreed interconnection rate between networks. Wholesale charges represent the fees the visited network charges the home network for letting its customers roam on its network.

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The new charges were agreed on by the partner states at a meeting of regulators held on March 5 based on their consultations with the operators before the resolution was adopted by Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

The drop in roaming charges is expected to stimulate growth in the telecommunications sector and promote cross-border trade. Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are expected to bar all the unregistered SIM cards from accessing network services.

A team of experts is currently working on data roaming transactions and pricing among operators and the new rates are expected to be adopted at the next summit scheduled for next month.

The summit directed that the partner states fast-track the establishment of a monitoring system to detect and prevent fraudulent calls (known as grey traffic) and also fast track the regional broadband strategy for signing at the next summit.

READ: Leaders agree to lower call tariffs within EAC by July

Uganda and South Sudan, which is joining the One Network Area, do not have regional broadband strategies and therefore are expected to fast-track their development before the regional one is developed.

The presidents also directed completion of the harmonisation of the legal and regulatory framework for effective SIM card registration.

Kenya and Rwanda have completed linking their SIM card registration to their national ID databases. Uganda’s issuance of IDs has commenced and parliament has approved the Registration of Persons’ Bill, which is awaiting assent by the president. The Bill provides for linking SIM card registration with the national ID database.

South Sudan’s national ID database is in place and SIM card registration is ongoing for the five per cent of South Sudanese in the national database but not linked to the national ID database. Thus, mandatory registration of SIM cards using national IDs may not apply given that 95 per cent of the population is not in the database.

“South Sudan is to use the referendum cards in the interim and should complete the SIM card registration by September,” said a statement from the summit.

Kenya has operationalized the One Network Area with a cost of US cents 10 per minute; Rwanda between US cents 7 and 9.9; Uganda US cents 12; South Sudan is implementing and will soon launch at US cents 9.2.

Among the challenges noted in the One Area Network area since its adoption are the grey traffic, which is leading to loss of revenue for governments and operators, and the absence of harmonised regulations for mobile financial services across the region.

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