Pakistan slashes mobile termination rates ⋆

Pakistan slashes mobile termination rates

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reduced the mobile termination rate (MTR) for local, long distance and international incoming calls from the existing PKR 0.90 per minute to PKR 0.80 per minute. pakistan mobile rates

The new rate will be applied to start in 2019, the local newspaper Dawn reports. Under PTA’s decision, off-net call prices for all operators and MTRs will drop to PKR 0.70 per minute from 1 January 2020.

The regulator has determined the rate after consultations with operators. The interconnect usage price was previously fixed in 2010.

A PTA consultation paper “Review of Mobile Termination Rates” has termed the existing MTR rate in Pakistan 111-198 percent higher than other comparable countries last year. It suggested a reduced rate of Rs0.80 per minute for the period between Dec 1, 2017 and Nov 30, 2018, and Rs0.70 per minute from December onwards until a cost-based study was completed.

READ MORE: Mobilink Jazz International Roaming charges and activation process

During the ongoing consultations, almost every telco favored the proposed reduction in MTR of up to Rs0.70 per minute during the PTA consultations. The move was opposed by the country’s largest telco, Mobilink/Jazz, however, Telenor supported the change from the next year onwards highlighting that the decision could hurt operators’ revenues.

On the other hand, Telenor also demanded a separate international termination rate of $0.025 per minute for both fixed and mobile calls. pakistan mobile rates