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Johannesburg - The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has lengthened the time frame for planned cuts to mobile connection fees after two of the major mobile networks challenged its proposed reductions in court.
Under the new rules, Icasa wants mobile termination rates (MTRs) to gradually fall to 8 South African cents per minute by March 2017.
Previously, it proposed cutting the rates to 10 cents by 2016 - meaning the new rules are bigger cuts spaced out over a longer period. The industry has until September 19 to comment on the new tariffs, after which Icasa will release the final regulations.
Now companies charge rivals 20 cents a minute for calls on their own network.
Mobile companies Vodacom [JSE:VOD] and MTN [JSE:MTN] have contested the cuts saying they favour smaller players such as Cell C and Telkom's mobile unit, 8ta.
The smaller players have said they have been forced to pay disproportionately high amounts of interconnection fees to bigger rivals for the simple fact that most calls by their users are to one of the two main players.
The regulator says the MTR cuts will improve competition, but big operators argue they have invested most in networks and the reduced rates would unduly benefit smaller rivals.
