Kenyans make more calls in EAC bloc after rates cut

Kenyans are now calling more within the East Africa region following the scrapping of taxes imposed on incoming voice calls by Rwanda and Uganda governments, the latest sector report by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) has revealed.

The report for the three months to December indicates that the number of outgoing voice minutes rose by 24.4 per cent to 17 billion minutes, up from 14 billion in the previous quarter.

The number of calls from the neighbouring countries also went up by 8.2 per cent to 20 billion minutes from 19 billion.

"The introduction of the ‘One Area Network’ has really seen the traffic of voice traffic within the region go up. It has also reduced the cost of doing business which is in line with our regional integration efforts ," Fred Matiang’i, the Cabinet Secretary Information told Business Daily.

The increase of Kenya mobile subscribers calling the region follows intense lobbying by Safaricom and Airtel. In September, Safaricom slashed its calling rates to Rwanda by 60 per cent to Sh10 per minute, enabling more of its customers to make international calls from Kenya to Rwanda, and vice versa. The previous charge was Sh25 per minute.

The new rates also saw Safaricom subscribers visiting Rwanda receive calls for free, and make calls to local Rwandan networks at Sh10, from the previous Sh17.50 per minute.

The Safaricom move came ahead of the East African Community Heads of State initiative dubbed “One Network” that has also resulted in the Ugandan government slashing its cross-border call rates.

In January, Airtel Kenya cut its roaming charges for its subscribers travelling in Uganda. The telco’s subscribers now call for Sh9 per minute while in Uganda, a 60 per cent drop from Sh23 a minute and one shilling less than the charges by rival Safaricom.

In June 2013, Uganda introduced Sh7, Tanzania Sh10, Rwanda Sh9 and Burundi Sh13 levies on any calls made by Kenyans when roaming or directly calling from the country.

Kenya is the only East Africa state that does not levy any taxes on cross-border calls and has been at the forefront of pushing for introduction of a common termination tariff.