Botswana court backs regulator's push for lower mobile call rates
Botswana's telecoms regulator said on Friday its order that mobile phone companies cut fees they charge rivals to use their network by 41% has been endorsed by a local court.
The ruling comes after Mascom, the country's biggest telecoms company, filed a court application last July seeking to have the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority's (BOCRA) directive declared illegal, improper and irrational.
Mascom is one of three companies offering mobile phone services in Botswana, alongside Botswana Telecommunications Corp and Orange Botswana.
"The judge ... applauded BOCRA for putting the interests of consumers above itself as an organisation and pursuing its mandate as a regulator," BOCRA said in a statement.
BOCRA argues there is no reason for mobile operators to charge higher mobile termination rates for calls across networks than for calls within their own networks.
The new rule on fees will come into effect next month.
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation