News / National
'Zimbabwe mobile call tariffs 30% high,' says Potraz
13 Jul 2014 at 17:54hrs | Views
Mobile call tariffs are about 30 percent higher than what service providers should charge according to a telecoms cost modelling study done by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ).
POTRAZ recently completed a cost modeling exercise to determine costs incurred by service providers in supplying telecommunications services and minimum tariffs that enable network operators to remain profitable while charging fair rates.
The first phase of the cost modeling exercise involved coming up with a weighted average cost while the 2nd phase involved determination of the long run incremental cost which was done by a German consultant.
POTRAZ Acting Director General Alfred Marisa told the ZBC News that the regulatory authority has held talks with network operators on the findings of the cost modeling exercise and now awaits comprehensive plans of how they plan to implement them.
"In terms of actual numbers that is something still early to talk about but when we outline the implementation process we will be able to talk in terms of numbers. I think the major impact will be on the mobile operators. The tariffs that they are charging were found on the high side by the costing model.
"The data tariffs are on the reasonable range, the tariffs charged by fixed network provider TelOne were found to be within reasonable range. It's just the mobile tariffs that were found to be about 30 percent above what would be acceptable," said Mr Marisa.
Mobile network operators charge between 23 and 25 cents for a call per minute and a re-adjustment of 30 percent on their caller tariffs could see subscribers forking out between 16.1 cents and 17.5 cents.
In the past there has been an outcry from mobile network subscribers over high charges but no concrete and scientifically proven steps had been taken by regulatory authorities to prove this and act on consumer complaints.
POTRAZ recently completed a cost modeling exercise to determine costs incurred by service providers in supplying telecommunications services and minimum tariffs that enable network operators to remain profitable while charging fair rates.
The first phase of the cost modeling exercise involved coming up with a weighted average cost while the 2nd phase involved determination of the long run incremental cost which was done by a German consultant.
POTRAZ Acting Director General Alfred Marisa told the ZBC News that the regulatory authority has held talks with network operators on the findings of the cost modeling exercise and now awaits comprehensive plans of how they plan to implement them.
"The data tariffs are on the reasonable range, the tariffs charged by fixed network provider TelOne were found to be within reasonable range. It's just the mobile tariffs that were found to be about 30 percent above what would be acceptable," said Mr Marisa.
Mobile network operators charge between 23 and 25 cents for a call per minute and a re-adjustment of 30 percent on their caller tariffs could see subscribers forking out between 16.1 cents and 17.5 cents.
In the past there has been an outcry from mobile network subscribers over high charges but no concrete and scientifically proven steps had been taken by regulatory authorities to prove this and act on consumer complaints.
Source - zbc
