TRA tells telcos to cut GCC roaming rates by 42%
dubai — The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunication Sector, or TRA, on Monday announced the implementation of the new price caps for intra-GCC roaming services that in effect would reduce rates by an average of 42 per cent.
The UAE’s mobile operators would provide the reduced rates from April.
Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, the UAE TRA’s director-general, said the telecom authority was actively represented in the Roaming Working Group meetings to study the regulation of roaming prices in the GCC countries.
“The implementation of the price caps by all mobile operators in the GCC is a great achievement for GCC countries to be among the pioneers in implementing such regulations,” he said.
He said the TRA is making efforts to raise the quality of services provided by the telecommunication sector to better serve the UAE’s customers and to ensure that they have access to quality services at competitive prices.
“We are looking forward to the positive impact that the implementation of this directive will have on UAE customers travelling to the
TRA is making efforts to raise the quality of services
Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori,
Director-General, TRA
GCC,” said Al Mansoori. In line with the directive, UAE’s two telecom operators, etisalat and du, have already initiated rate cuts.
Roaming customers of du are now charged Dh0.95 per minute for all local calls made within a GCC country and Dh0.29 for all sent text messages while roaming. Data roaming will cost customers Dh4.77 per MB for both prepaid and postpaid customers.
Etisalat’s new tariffs are Dh2.35/min for intra-GCC outgoing roaming calls, Dh0.955/min for roaming calls within the destination country, Dh0.294 per roaming SMS and Dh4.774/MB data roaming charges. According to industry analysts, the slashed rates are expected to help regional mobile phone users save up to $1.13 billion.
The rate cut will have only very little impact on GCC telecom companies as the contribution from roaming revenue is less than one per cent, industry experts said.
Global Investment House has pointed out that the contribution of total roaming revenue from international and the GCC to overall revenue is less than one per cent. Hence, contribution of roaming revenue from GCC is even lower, analysts at Global pointed out.
Telecom industry analysts said telecom companies are free to offer even lower prices. Data will witness the largest cut. A five-year tariff reduction schedule for data has been given compared to three years for other services (SMS, outgoing and incoming calls).
The GCC Ministerial Committee for Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology approved phase one of the Roaming Working Group (RWG) recommendations for setting a maximum cap on wholesale and retail mobile roaming tariffs within GCC in 2010. The regulation took full effect on February 1, 2012.