Telecommunications company Airtel has supported the recent decision by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to revise the interconnection fees.
This comes days after CA moved to reduce Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) and Fixed Termination Rates (FTR) from current rates of Sh0.99 per minute to Sh0.12 per minute using its mandate under the Kenya Communications Act.
The MTR of Sh0.99 per minute has been in effect for close to seven years yet the rate was only intended to apply for one year and CA says the review has been long overdue.
Interconnection allows customers to seamlessly call each other across networks without having to obtain mobile or fixed numbers from another network.
When MTR remain high, as they have been in Kenya in the past seven years, consumers have to pay more for voice calls and have less freedom of choice.
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In a statement, Airtel has lauded CA for its MTR and FTR review saying this will greatly enable Kenyan consumers to call more across networks with ease, especially in the current tough economic times occasioned by the pandemic.
Airtel says customers will also benefit from better services as telcos will have more money to invest in their infrastructure and networks instead of paying high interconnection fees.
“This reduction will also increase mobile penetration in Kenya and enhance access to voice and data services to support the Government’s broadband strategy and better position Kenya as a regional ICT Hub,” said Airtel in a statement.
It added, “We believe that any attempt to delay or scuttle the implementation of the MTR will deny consumers the benefits of more affordable calling prices.”
Airtel noted the need to for the benefit to consumers to be protected considering that high MTR are not meant to be a revenue source for Mobile or Fixed voice service providers but an enabler for seamless calling hence improving consumer access to communication.
