Mascom & Co submit reduced tariffs for approval

Mascom, comfortably the country’s largest mobile network, unsuccessfully sued against a Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) decision to reduce a key component making up voice charges, by 41%. Mascom also failed to stop the removal of the “off-net premium,” meaning from June 1, at wholesale level, the three networks will charge each other the same tariff for voice calls. 

For consumers, last week’s High Court victory for BOCRA means lower voice charges across all networks due to 41% drop in Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) and the removal of the off-net premium. The off-net premium and MTRs are major components of the costs mobile operators charge each other for voice calls across networks.