The reduction of the wholesale interconnectivity call rates announced yesterday currently only applies for domestic calls.
Commerce Commission Chairman, Dr Mahendra Reddy said they have only made the decision to reduce the wholesale interconnectivity call rates for domestic calls only, as other data is still being collected regarding this issue.
Reddy yesterday said that the reduction of these prices will now mean that players in the telecommunications industry will have to set their retail rates accordingly for local calls.
He adds these rates were much higher than what is generally observed in other economies, and this was mainly due to the monopolies that the telecommunication companies held.
Reddy adds the new retail rates will be felt by consumers soon.
The current mobile termination rate existing in the market is 28 cents per minute which with immediate effect is reduced to 23 cents.
This 23 cents per minute for a call is the wholesale rate which will now be charged by operators when calls are made from one operator's network to another network.
This basically means that the wholesale call rate per minute from a Vodafone customer to a Digicel customer and vice versa has been reduced to 23 cents with immediate effect.
Changes have also been announced for the landline termination rate. The maximum rate now stands at 9.9 cents per minute which with immediate effect is reduced to 7.9 cents and at the end of three years will fall to 4.5 cents per minute.
Reddy said the wholesale rates will be further reduced at the end of the year and will continue to fall.
Meanwhile, Telecom Fiji Limited Acting CEO Sakiasi Seru has expressed disappointment at the interconnectivity rates saying their submissions were not given due consideration by the Commission in reaching the new interconnectivity rates.
Seru said they will start to review their retail prices for consumers. He believes domestic consumers do not stand to gain alot.
Meanwhile, Mobile phone operator, Digicel Fiji Limited has welcomed the decision by the Commerce Commission.
Digicel is now expected to also start a review of its charges before it is made public. Vodafone Fiji Limited is expected to comment later.
Reduction in interconnectivity rates for local calls only
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