Namibian mobile operators agree on interconnection fees

After months of wrangling over interconnection fees, Namibian mobile service providers have finally agreed to review the current anticompetitive interconnection fees charged on their networks, said Minister of ICT Joel Kaapanda.

The Namibian Communication Commission (NCC) has been tasked with establishing the new interconnection fees within two months to avoid further conflict. The operators, however, want the NCC to first study the interconnection fees in nearby countries to ensure that the newly agreed upon fees are regionally acceptable.

Kaapanda answered that the new fee regime will be benchmarked against the telecom practices in the Southern Africa Development Community.

Over the past few months, Kaapanda has been mediating arguments between Namibia's service providers, which were accusing each other of anticompetitive practices. Telecom Namibia and Cell One had ganged up against Mobile Telecommunication Company, accusing MTC of charging its subscribers exorbitant interconnection tariffs when calling Telecom Namibia and Cell One networks.

Kaapanda called a meeting with service providers last month to find an alternative interconnection regime that is mutually acceptable.

Due to a lack of telecommunication laws, however, Kaapanda has no power to punish the erring service providers. A revised communication law to regulate the country's telecom industry is only expected to be tabled in Parliament later this year.