Month: August 2016

Lesley Stones – 28 July 2009 – OPPOSITION to the high cost of making a cellphone call from one network to another is rising, with SA now being derided for falling behind Namibia in its prices. The lobby group SA Connect and Research ICT Africa are holding a seminar today to highlight how Namibia’s regulatory […]

Johannesburg, 3 August 2009 – Mobile incumbents have brushed off an industry outcry over high interconnect costs. However, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has agreed to look into the matter. Two weeks ago, Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille lodged a complaint at the Competition Commission, which lambasted the mobile operators for high […]

Johannesburg, 19 August 2009 – The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) does not need a market study on interconnect to drop prices, says local telecommunications business ECN. Last month, the regulator released its latest draft regulations on the management of interconnect agreements. The document caused an outcry among smaller operators and industry watchers when […]

John Holdsworth – 19 August 2009 ECN legally challenge high interconnect rates in attempt to reducing telecoms costs in South Africa South Africa’s telecommunications costs are among the highest in the world. ECN is committed to strategy aimed at reducing telecommunications costs. The primary reason for such high telecommunications costs is interconnection charges – the […]

There may, finally, be relief for businesses and individual consumers from costly cellphone bills after advocate Gilbert Marcus’s legal opinion that the industry regulator, Icasa, has the right to force down the fees. Vodacom and MTN hiked the cost of switching a call from one network to another from 20c a minute to R1,25, a […]

CELLULAR operators have responded with caution to a new legal finding that may pave the way to a huge cut in the cost of phone calls. Although their comments are guarded, it seems likely they will take legal action of their own if the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) tries to cut the fee […]

ECN attended the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications (PPCC) meeting on interconnection rates and was very impressed by the political will of Parliament to urgently deal with the issue of interconnection rates charged by Vodcaom, MTN and Cell C that are amongst the highest in the world. It is clear that high interconnection rates serve […]

SA consumers, used to high prices for telecommunications, must be rubbing their hands in glee. The cost of broadband and voice telephony has begun falling, in some cases dramatically, as competition finally begins to take effect. At the weekend, cellphone giant Vodacom announced it was effectively cutting its peak-time prepaid rates by as much as […]

Studies show that cellular interconnection costs closer to 25c than the current 89c/77c per minute. Peak Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) – aka interconnect rates – were dropped from the previous R1.25 per minute to 89c per minute in March after an agreement was reached between the cellular operators and ICASA. This interconnect rate cut resulted […]