Business
East African governments looking at either eliminating or reducing Roaming Charges
East African businesses, especially those that import goods from within the East African Community (EAC) have for long complained about the roaming fees they incur whenever doing business in the region.
This could soon end after regional authorities mooted plans to either scrap, or reduce and harmonize roaming rates to ease business across the east African region.
In a bid to boost cross-border business, the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) authorities from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan are set to reduce or possibly eliminate the unpopular costly mobile phone roaming charges.
The development will see roaming voice and data fees drop drastically and thus enable cellular subscribers to use their devices more on trips outside their respective countries.
In November, businesses, entrepreneurs and local telecommunications providers called for the scrapping of fees on regional calls, saying the charges were increasing the cost of doing business across the region.
Last week, officials from the 4 regional countries met in Kenyan capital Nairobi to examine the integration of tech infrastructure in East Africa, and jointly find ways of reducing or eliminating the cost of roaming voice and data charges.
East Africans are currently facing challenges of making and receiving calls while on trips outside their respective countries, especially those using SIM cards that operate on more than one network within their respective country.
The move by the regional authorities could revitalise the region’s telecommunications sector and help promote investment in the industry.
The harmonization of call rates is key as the east African region’s economic sector is increasingly dependent on faster broadband connections. However, the regional authorities plan to scrap roaming charges may encounter stiff resistance from the cellular phone carriers, who argue that the roaming charges are crucial for profitability, and so to their investment plans.
Source: New Times