Kenya could see call rates rise if a request submitted by Orange-Telkom on Wednesday is supported by the government. The company is asking for the minimum price of calls to be risen to Sh4.42, double what it is currently. The company said in a press statement that it wants to set the minimum rates to shield mobile phone companies from revenue losses. The rate, Orange-Telkom CEO Michael Ghossein told reporters, “should be double the mobile termination rate. At the current mobile termination rate – the amount an operator pays if subscribers call another network – of Sh2.21, the minimum price should be Sh4.42 per minute.” He continued to say that “if we don't do this, we will kill the industry.”. His company's calls spark worries that the country could be heading back toward a price battle between operators, but the minimum price could help rectify losses incrued over the past year as a result of lowering and lowering of call prices. Currently Safaricom and Orange have the highest off-net calling rates at Sh4.00 per minute. Airtel and YuMobile charge Sh3.00 per minute. With Sh2.21 paid to the terminating company, the operator is left with less than 80 cents in revenue. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/T9cNw Tags: Call, Kenya, Prices, Telecom Section: East Africa, Tech
