Member states within the Common Market for Eastern and South Africa (Comesa) have come to an agreement over the current state of telephone roaming charges.
According to reports the member states have agreed to abolish telephone roaming charges which could be the beginning of more cost effective services for customers within the bloc.
“Although pricing of voice services in many African countries was becoming competitive and comparable with the rest of the world, the cost of broadband continued to be out of reach of most people,” ministers from the bloc stated in a final report that resolved to adopt uniform call rates.
It was noted that Africans pay 25 percent of their monthly gross national income (GNI) per capital mobile cellular call compared to 11 per cent in other developing countries.
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Now the East African Community could be a motivator for the elimination of roaming and termination charges as other countries will be keenly looking to follow in the same footsteps.
“The ICT regulators are encouraged to carry out studies to reduce the interconnection rates and reduce or eliminate the roaming charges. Member States are encouraged to invest into the Fibre Technology to The Home (FTTH) to increase capacity and provide excellent quality,” the report read further.
Event though there has been a lot of investment in network infrastructure, Africa has not had the most solidified network connectivity and high-quality, affordable Internet access.
Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda have already agreed to a joint voice and SMS charge via the Northern Corridor Integration Projects.
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