Good news for people today as the Interconnectivity call rates will be reduced over the next three years.
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.
Due to the reduction in the wholesale call rates, the operators will now have to reduce the retail call rates which customers pay.
Chairman of Commerce Commission Dr Mahendra Reddy has revealed that the interconnectivity rates for both mobile and fixed termination rates have been determined and is effective as at the 17th November 2009.
Dr Reddy said what this means is that calling from one network to another will be cheaper.
Changes have also been announced for the landline termination rate. The maximum rate now stands at 9.9 cents per minute with which immediate effect is reduced to 7.9 cents and at the end of three years will fall to 4.5 cents per minute.
Doctor Reddy said the operators will now have to announce their new retail call rates to the customers based on the reduction in wholesale call rates.
Now to turning to the reductions that will follow over the next three years.
Doctor Reddy said the wholesale rates will be further reduced at the end of the year and will continue to fall.
This will see further reductions in the retail call rates that customers have to pay.
So over the next three years wholesale mobile rates will fall from 23 cents to 11.5 cents per minute resulting in cheaper retail rates for customers.
Vodafone Fiji, Digicel Fiji and other operators are expected to comment in the next hour.
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Interconnectivity call rates reduced
