TFL customers will now be able to call various countries using the 00 service after FINTEL lifted its block of international calls and the two companies will have to come up with a commercial agreement by 12th August.
Attorney General and Minister for Communications Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the decision was reached following a meeting this morning.
Meanwhile, FINTEL's manager commercial and business development George Samisoni said the high costs associated with their services, is the reason why they had blocked international calls to various countries using 00 service.
He added due to deregulation, the international gateway services are no longer exclusive to the company.
He said FINTEL's review of its cost structure and business model has established that the retail and wholesale carriage and termination of voice traffic to the Pacific Island countries were not reflective of the true costs for the provision of this service.
He said given the high cost of voice carriage and terminations to these destinations, FINTEL could no longer bear the out-of-pocket situation for calls retailed in the Fiji market.
Samisoni said the continuing loss situation prompted the decision to terminate the service to ensure that the business remains sustainable.
He said relevant authorities and operators were appropriately notified of FINTEL's decision, pending formalization of proper cost effective commercial interconnect arrangements.
He said the interconnect agreement between FINTEL and TFL will decide if call rates for customers will be increased.
Minister for Communications Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said they will monitor the situation and ensure consumers are not charged at exorbitant amounts.
FINTEL lifts barring of calls
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