Charges on telephone calls made to Tanzania and Burundi are set to drop significantly as the two countries prepare to adopt the region’s uniform roaming charges.
Nairobi. Charges on telephone calls made to Tanzania and Burundi are set to drop significantly as the two countries prepare to adopt the region’s uniform roaming charges.
Implementation of the framework for the East African Community’s harmonised roaming charges is one of the priority items before regional presidents who are meeting in Arusha this week.
Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have already implemented harmonised voice and SMS charges under the Northern Corridor Integration Projects. Calls to Uganda and Rwanda networks currently cost flat rate of Sh10 per minute while calling Burundi and Tanzania is Ksh30 (about Tsh630) and Ksh25 (about Tsh525) respectively.
Similarly, it costs a flat rate of ksh7 (about Tsh147) per SMS sent to Rwanda or Uganda compared to Sh10 (about Tsh210) and Sh12 (about Tsh252) respectively to Burundi and Tanzania.
Sector players said application of uniform roaming charges across the 146 million people market would ease communication among the region’s population, fostering economic integration.
“The implementation of harmonised EAC will reduce roaming charges for EAC citizens, increase traffic volumes for operators and ultimately foster the integration process,” says Mr Richard Tonui, director of licensing, compliance and standards at the Communications Authority of Kenya. At the moment, cross-border voice and SMS charges remain flat between Kenya Uganda and Rwanda but high between Tanzania and Burundi due to different roaming rates.
For instance, a voice call from Safaricom line in Kenya to MTN and Tigo networks in Rwanda costs Ksh10 (about Tsh210) per minute, the same rate as calls made to MTN and UTL networks in Uganda.
A similar call from Kenya to Airtel or Tigo networks in Tanzania costs Ksh30 per (about Tsh630) minute or Ksh25 (about Tsh525) per minute if made to Burundi’s Econet Wireless network. Similarly, it costs Ksh7 (about Tsh147) per SMS to Rwanda and Uganda compared to Ksh10 (about Tsh210) to Burundi and Ksh12 (about Tsh252) to Tanzania.
Calls to satellite networks, however, remain uniform at Ksh500 (about Tsh10,500) per minute to Rwanda, Uganda or Tanzania while Burundi attracts Sh1,780 (about Tsh37,380) per minute.
A deal reached in Arusha Tuesday is set to give the region a one area network that will give the region flat cross-border call charges.
