Lukong Pius Nyuylime
2 June 2008
The General Manager of TRB announced the news last Friday in Yaounde during a press briefing.
Telephone users in Cameroon will henceforth pay less for calls made within and out of the country, Jean Louis Beh Mengue, the General Manager of the Telecommunication Regulatory Board announced in Yaounde last Friday, May 30.
The 20 per cent drop which takes effect from yesterday, June 01, is the result of negotiation between the government represented by the Cameroon Telecommunication Regulatory Board (TRB) and the three telephone operators in the country: Cameroon telecommunications (CAMTEL), Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) and Orange Cameroon, which started on January 15, 2008. "Operators were recommended to put in place a simplified and homogeneous pricing in which reductions will not be merged in off-peak hour related advantages and regular bonuses", the TRB boss said.
According to Beh Mengue, a comparative study carried out ahead of the reduction indicated Cameroon tariffs are above average compared to countries with almost similar economic profile. He however blamed the situation on the setting up of communication networks by mobile telephone operators due to the lack of a national optical fiber backbone and the investment carried out by operators to make up for electric power shortages.
The 20 per cent reduction in effect, is a general average reduction applied by operators in different circumstances, time frame and ranges.
CAMTEL
According to the new tariffs, the Cameroon Telecommunications, the sole operator of fixed telephone, has stepped down its prices to CFA 50 a minute for intra-provincial calls, CFA 70 a minute for National calls, and CFA 120 a minute for calls on mobile telephone. In the same vein, the State Corporation makes a 50 per cent reduction proposal during off-peak hours and public holidays.
MTN
The Mobile Telecommunication Network offers a global average 20 per cent reduction to its customers. The percentage breakdown is as follows: between 13 and 87 per cent reduction for per second billing option depending on the time range, between 10 and 80 per cent for billing option by blocks of 30 seconds, between 11 and 78 per cent for the tapering rate option as per minute and between 20 and 90 per cent for billing per second with changing discounts.
In addition, MTN new subscription rates have registered a decrease of from 25 to 50 per cent. International calls have moved from CFA 300 to CFA 150 a minute, representing a 50 per cent drop.
Orange Cameroon
The company has introduced night" and "super night" tariffs valid from 10pm to 5am. Prepaid offers are as follows: between CFA 130 and 150 during peak hours for intra network calls, between CFA 130 and 175 for calls towards other networks, CFA 100 every 10 minutes and a decrease of 25 per cent for intra network calls and 12.50 per cent for inter network calls.
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