Nairobi — Safaricom has teamed up with two leading mobile service providers in Tanzania and Uganda to launch a regional network that will eliminate roaming charges.

The firm announced on Thursday that it has hooked its network to Uganda's MTN and Vodacom of Tanzania to launch the seamless network.

The partnership will see subscribers of the three firms communicate without switching networks across the borders. The network will serve 10 million subscribers.

Analysts say the move is a response to stiffening competition between mobile phone operators in Africa, which has led to lower tariffs and new services as companies vie for a slice of the lucrative market.

Africa's third-ranked mobile operator, Celtel, last September launched a network service that allows subscribers travelling in the East Africa region to make calls at local rates and receive incoming calls for free.

Some of the benefits of the arrangement is that subscribers will not be required to pay to access roaming services, and neither will they be required to make deposits before crossing borders.

They will also be able to receive incoming calls for free and enjoy local tariff charges.

"Subscribers of the three networks will now be able to receive and make calls anywhere within East Africa without incurring extra charges," Safaricom Chief Executive Officer, Mr Michael Joseph said during the launching ceremony in Nairobi.

Joseph said what the group calls "The East African Tariff" was the first such arrangement in Africa that brings separate companies together.

He announced that both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers of the three mobile companies will be able to make local and international calls on their tariff plans.

"All that subscribers have to do is travel with their Safaricom, MTN or Vodacom SIM cards across the three East African countries to make calls, divert calls to voicemail or retrieve messages from voicemail, just as they do in their countries," Joseph said.

The three companies will also sell airtime vouchers across the region to enable subscribers top-up their pre-paid accounts from any location.

"To top-up, our subscribers will use airtime vouchers from their home networks. All the three operators have ensured that airtime for their networks are available in the region," he said.

Information and Communication minister Mr Mutahi Kagwe said during the launch that he expects the regional network to have a positive impact in reducing the region's telecommunication costs.

"We believe the affordability and convenience of this new service will significantly ease the region's telecommunications hindrances in a bid to foster regional economic and social integration," Kagwe said.

Kagwe also reiterated the Government's commitment to enact the Kenya Information and Communication Bill 2006 enacted into law.

He pointed out, once passed into law, the Bill would outlaw and carry a punitive punishment against the use of mobile phone unblocking gadgets and software in Kenya.

The Bill explicitly states that re-programming of mobile phones is an offence punishable by law."

Perpetrators caught flouting this law will be liable to a three year imprisonment or a fine of Sh3,000 or both.