Telkom has weighed in on the battle raging in the telecommunications industry over mobile termination rates, the fees operators pay each other to carry calls between their networks. Group CEO Sipho Maseko says recent moves to oppose reduced rates, which will take effect on 1 April, will delay reducing the cost of calls to consumers and are not in the public interest.
MTN has taken communications regulator Icasa to court, accusing it of not following due process and engaging correctly with the industry in cutting the rates, which will include an “asymmetry” advantage for Cell C and Telkom Mobile that disfavours big incumbents MTN and Vodacom.
“Any delay to this implementation is to the detriment of consumers, who have in the past benefited from Telkom’s commitment to pass through savings derived from previous regulatory interventions,” says Maseko in a statement. “Previous interventions have stimulated the industry to become more competitive as all players have moved to offer lower retail prices following these interventions. ”
Telkom claims that it “always strives” to pass on the benefits of lower termination rates to its customers. However, the company has not always passed on the maximum benefit, electing to keep some of the additional profits that accrued from the lower rates.
Maseko says that any delays in the introduction of the new rates will disadvantage Telkom. The big mobile operators enjoyed a regulatory regime that favoured them between 2001 and 2012, when Telkom effectively subsidised them, he adds.
“This has ultimately constrained our ability to offer even better retail prices to our consumers.” — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media
