JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Mobile operator MTN has cited the high interconnection rates imposed by the state-owned operator Nitel as the main reason for its high retail prices.
MTN’s tariff for its prepaid service is US$0.50 per minute, while contract subscribers pay a month’s subscription fee of US$40. Many Nigerians feel that these prices are exploitative and far too expensive.
The operator has called for the establishment of an independent regulator to oversee equitable interconnection agreements being reached among all concerned. In a paper on the proposed Nigerian telecom law, MTN stated that as the dominant telecom player in the market, Nitel had no incentive to negotiate reasonable interconnection agreements with the other network operators.
The network added that the regulator should be shielded from political intervention with the powers to regulate spectrum allocation, licensing, interconnection agreements and tariffs.
