Telkom has urged communications regulator Icasa to contemplate scrapping name termination charges – the regulated quantities operators cost each other to hold calls between their networks – the following time they’re up for assessment.
Icasa this week gazetted last name termination fee laws for the following three years, which can see the charges proceed their greater than decade-long downward development from an historic excessive of R1.25/minute.
Telkom stated it welcomed Icasa’s resolution to chop the charges in a extra gradual vogue than it had proposed earlier this yr, and lauded the regulator for narrowing the hole between mounted and cell charges over the following two years.
“Total, we consider Icasa has struck an affordable stability between enabling efficient competitors for smaller gamers and new entrants whereas serving to to create a sustainable and aggressive telecoms sector in South Africa. These adjustments to the laws help Telkom’s data-led technique and are optimistic for market development within the telecoms sector,” stated Telkom.
“The extension of the phased-in implementation of the glide path, from two to a few years, aligns with historic approaches to name termination fee opinions and gives for a extra measured transition interval,” it stated.
“Wanting ahead, Telkom believes that Icasa ought to contemplate lowering termination charges to zero in its subsequent assessment, recognising the market’s evolution in the direction of data-led over-the-top and internet-based voice providers. This is able to additional stage the taking part in discipline, whereas acknowledging altering client behaviours and technological tendencies.”
Robocall epidemic
Telkom stated it helps Icasa’s resolution to align the charges extra carefully between mounted and cell calls, however criticised the deliberate 1 July 2027 fee cuts that may see the hole widen once more to 3c/minute.
Petrus Potgieter, Unisa professor of resolution sciences and an affiliate accomplice at telecommunications consultancy Strand Seek the advice of, stated termination charges are actually so low that Icasa must justify why it hasn’t already slashed them to zero. He stated the methodology utilized by the regulator depends on a long-term incremental value outlook that not one of the operators experiences in actuality.
Learn: Spam robocall epidemic in South Africa
Nonetheless, a serious concern for Potgieter is that slashing termination charges to zero may worsen the robocall epidemic in South Africa as spam callers wouldn’t should pay termination charges on calls to unsuspecting shoppers.
“Popia (the Safety of Private Data Act) has performed nothing to take care of spam calls, and if spam calls actually get uncontrolled, then folks would possibly cease answering calls altogether,” stated Potgieter.
He stated it is sensible for smaller operators like Telkom to be in favour of scrapping termination charges as a result of they often terminate fewer off-net calls than their bigger rivals. He added, nevertheless, that the voice market has and can proceed to shrink because of the migration to internet-based calling providers like WhatsApp, and that the problem of termination charges will “deal with itself” within the subsequent few years.
Alison Gillwald, govt director of Analysis ICT Africa, stated its information exhibits that some 30% of South Africa’s inhabitants is nonetheless reliant on older voice calling expertise, however even that market is more and more having access to WhatsApp and related instruments.
“The mounted and cell voice market is so redundant in an internet-based world that the variety of folks being impacted by name termination charges is quickly shrinking. There are such a lot of different huge points about getting folks linked to the web the place operators have a peering association and termination charges are a non-issue,” she stated.
Potgieter agreed. Name termination charges had been a serious concern a decade in the past when voice calling was the key communication channel and their impression on the price of communications was vital. Now Icasa appears to have “over-solved the issue”, he stated.
Telkom, in the meantime, welcomed Icasa’s resolution to set the assessment of internation name termination charges apart, to be handled in a separate course of. The regulator had initially proposed that South African cell operators cost symmetric termination charges for worldwide calls, that means calls from some jurisdictions would entice termination charges decrease than home charges, whereas others could be increased.
The operators, together with Telkom, argued that they need to be given the leeway to barter worldwide termination charges and set them in keeping with business preparations, relatively than the charges being mandated by Icasa.
Learn: MPs ship Icasa council shortlist to Malatsi
Icasa spokeswoman Ramasela Matlou stated name termination charges can be reviewed once more when the regulator “deems it crucial”, however not earlier than three years after the after the graduation of the present amendments to the laws on 1 July 2025. — (c) 2024 NewsCentral Media
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