By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Ministry of Information and Communication has said that the new floor price policy by the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) will stay in place for at least three months.
On Wednesday, during the government’s weekly press briefing, Information Minister, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, said a committee had been set by the ministry to do a review of the policy which has provoked widespread public anger.
Mr Swaray said the committee’s work would last for three months and that the current tariff price regime would not change until the study is completed and a final decision is taken.
“In the meantime, the current regime stays but I am pretty confident that following this round of conversation, a scientific cost study will be undertaken, and we will all emerge winners. So my plead to all of you is bear with us, 90 days is not forever. Within 90 days we will resolve all current and emerging problems in the sector as it relates to consumer pricing and other related things,” he told journalists.
The committee comprises of members from the mobile operators, consumers, civil society, NATCOM, the National Revenue Authority and Ministries of Information and Finance.
Last week, NATCOM commenced implementation of aspects of the 2020 Finance Act concerning the sector. Specifically, it requires all telecom operators in the country to set their tariff on call at a harmonized rate - Le590 per minute.
This caused outrage and bitter complaints from customers, after the major telecom operators - Orange, Africell and new entrant Q Cell - all cancelled most of their bonus services.
“Legitimate concerns were raised by members of public, many of whom are used to benefitting from promotional [services] which I also do. I don’t have unlimited credit on my phone. I also buy credit as you do, I don’t have mobile companies complementing me. So this is the situation we have and because we have a lot of concerns for members of the public, so we summoned the mobile phone companies here, we brought NATCOM here, we sat, we clearly agreed on a road map to solving this thing, so that we stop doing things in a knee jerk way,” Swaray said.
According to the minister, promotions from telecasts would continue but on a limited basis - up to 10% will be tax free, but anything exceeding that will be between the telecast and the tax body (NRA).
Meanwhile, Ministry of Information officials and other members of the information and communication sector were scheduled to take part in a three-day retreat in Kenema from Thursday. Several issues were on the agenda to be discussed, including tariff, fiscal regime, cyber security, sector coordination and Ministerial action plan.
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