Operators mum on interconnect rates
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) recently met with representatives from Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, Neotel and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) to discuss the interconnect rates. According to ICASA the meeting was necessitated by the ongoing public discussions around the cost of call termination in the country.
After deliberations ICASA said that it plans to conclude negotiations between the operators by the end of December 2009, with ICASA proposing an implementation date of 01 February 2010.
The operators will play an integral part in the negotiations and ensure that the interconnect rates are reduced to acceptable levels, but to date the role-players are not prepared to say much about the issue.
Vodacom merely said that “the meeting was productive and Vodacom looks forward to further discussions on this matter”. Cell C was even less forthcoming, saying that “the statement issued by ICASA was agreed upon by all the operators and we can therefore not comment any further at this point in time.”
MTN, Neotel and Telkom did not provide any feedback regarding the meeting with ICASA, no hint was given as to whether they are confident that negotiations will be concluded by December 2009 and whether they would in fact like to see lower interconnect rates.
Operators and interconnect rates – comments and views
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