Cape Town - The government on Tuesday ordered a cut in mobile phone charges by the end of November, saying it had been forced to act because the communications regulator would not do so.

Siphiwe Nyanda, Minister of Communications, directed the regulator to lower interconnection rates, the charge made by operators to transfer calls to rival networks. It gave no details.

The ministry said South African communications costs were higher than those charged by peers like South Korea, Malaysia and India.

Vodacom, South Africa's biggest mobile phone operator, said a dramatic reduction of charges would hit the government's aim of improving access and would disrupt the economy and communications industry.

At the same time, parliament's communications committee is sounding out reaction to its campaign for lower interconnection fees.

Committee chairperson Ismail Vadi said its actions were not political interference but an attempt to deal with the communications regulator's failure to cut prices.

The committee has proposed interconnection rates should be cut to 60c per minute during peak times by November and then by a further 15c annually until 2012. Operators currently charge each other R1.25 per minute during peak times.

- Reuters