Econet loses tariff appeal

Mobile telecommunications giant Econet Wireless was last Friday forced to eat a humble pie when the Supreme Court quizzed how its lawyers filed a hopeless case as an appeal.

Econet had sought to challenge a regulatory determination as issued by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe on October 16 2014, ordering a reduction in mobile telephone tariffs by all operators in the country.

Mobile call tariffs are about 30 percent higher than what service providers should charge according to a telecommunications cost modelling study done by Potraz.

Currently pegged between 23 cents and 25 cents, the rates will be lowered to 15 cents per minute, a move which Econet has strenuously tried to fight as they said it will render them incapacitated and force many to lose jobs and dump their scholarship programmes.

The tariff will see another adjustment to 12 cents per minute in 2015 and 9 cents per minute in 2016, while interconnect rate will be further adjusted from the current seven cents to five cents by December 2014, to four cents in 2015 and ultimately three cents by 2016.

At a price of between 23 and 25 cents per minute for voice calls, the operators in Zimbabwe were significantly benefiting.