Ugandan authorities say they are reviewing the cost of making calls in the country in response to complaints of high charges.
Ibrahim Bbossa, head of public relations at Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) said it will all depend on the results of an ongoing study.
“There is an ongoing costing study aimed at determining the future trajectory of the MTR over the next five years. This study is anticipated to conclude in July 2025 and is expected to address all pertinent questions regarding the MTR adjustments and their implications for the telecommunications sector,” Bbossa told The EastAfrican.
Comparatively, in Tanzania, the MTR charges for domestic calls are 13 times lower and the Kenyan rates four times cheaper than what Uganda telcos charge.
Over the past decade, mobile telephony regulators in EAC have been reviewing MTR tariffs downwards with the aim of keeping retail prices low and checking anti-competition tendencies, while ensuring the businesses are profitable.
Mr Evariste Rugigana, the Director General of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Rura) told The EastAfrican that the termination fee there is “zero” per minute which means operators do not collect local incoming interconnection revenue at all.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) capped the MTR fees at Tsh1.68 ($0.00063) per minute.
Incyte consulting, a UK based telecommunication policy advisory firm, says in a bulletin that Tanzania’s major shift to data traffic has played a significant role in driving mobile termination costs downwards.
“……and this trend is expected to continue as 5G networks are rolled out across Tanzania in the coming years,” Incyte notes in their analysis.
In Tanzania, cost-based voice termination rates are now so low that zero-rating could be a possibility in future, Incyte explained. Increasing emphasis on data services has led TCRA, the regulator, to impose a price floor on retail mobile data prices, the bulletin added.
The Communication Authority of Kenya also reduced the rate from Ksh0.99 ($0.0076) per minute to Ksh0.41 ($0.0031) per minute, effective March 1, 2024.
