Traders relieved

Integration News Traders relieved in the wake of no roaming charges

The move to harmonise calling rates by the East African Community (EAC) governments has been seen as a major step towards regional integration, especially by businesses in the region. So far, according to Patrick Nyirishema, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (Rura) Director General, Kenyan, Ugandan and Rwandan telecoms have already scrapped off roaming fees. This is yet another step forward in deepening the integration agenda as countries move to ease communication among East African citizens as this would spur economic and social benefits. Though the deal is between Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, the other two remaining countries, Tanzania and Burundi, are yet to join the project as this will see the roaming charges scrapped in all five countries. South Sudan is also set to join as the younger country tries to set up its communication regulatory body.

The 9th Northern Corridor Infrastructure Summit that will take place in Kigali on 7 March 2015 will see One Network Area launched.

In a meeting of regional regulatory bodies held in Arusha in August 2014, Tanzania and Burundi were given until December 31, 2014 to carry out studies on the minimum roaming charge they want. “We all have the same commitment to lower calling rates within the region,” said Nyirishema. MTN Rwanda now charges roaming clients Rwf60 per minute for calls to any network in Kenya, and Uganda while Airtel Rwanda charges Rwf69 per minute and Tigo Rwanda subscribers now part with Rwf70 per minute, according to Pierre Kayitana, the firm’s public relations officer. All the telecoms’ subscribers will also receive calls free of charge while in Kenya and Uganda.

The new rates show a reduction from an average of Rwf200 per minute which the firms previously charged roaming subscribers.

Teddy Bhullar, the Airtel Rwanda managing director, said the reduction is part of ensuring seamless communication for users. With the reduction in roaming charges, experts believe that it will now facilitate those in business community. Nyirishema explained that the previous fee on incoming international traffic that was shared between the government and Rura had been scrapped. “The same applies to roaming charges, which has also been removed,” he added. He noted that the inter-operator fee had remained at $4 cents (about Rwf28), which when added to the taxes amounts to $10 cents (about Rwf69), the retail rate operators are supposed to charge roaming clients.

John Nasasira, Uganda’s minister of Information and Communication Technology said in a recent interview that telecom operators across the region played a key role in realizing the project. “It is important that our regional telecom operators work together to make this communication milestone a reality.” “When I used to call my suppliers in Kenya, they used to charge me and also deduct airtime fees. This was making it hard for us to do business,” said Olivier Mugabo, an importer of second hand clothes in Kigali’s Nyabugogo market. The previous regulations affected costs for all incoming international calls for mobile phone users in Rwanda and also those in Diaspora. At the end of it all, both mobile phone users and telecom operators were feeling the pinch of the high charges. Steve Gasana, Airtel Rwanda’s roaming interconnect and carrier business manager, said it was urgent that regional telecom regulators reduce the fees to ease communication.

The scrapping of Roaming charges will facilitate cross border trade in the EAC Partner States. July-Dec 2014 23