Commission Decides to Reduce Accounting Rates for Call Termination Between Companies

The Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission, Eng. Abdullah Al-Darrab, explained that, based on the Commission's keenness to enhance competition, protect the interests of users, and encourage the provision of reliable telecommunications and information technology services at reasonable prices, and out of keenness to encourage fair and effective competition in all fields of telecommunications and information technology, the results of the public opinion survey previously published on 5/12/1435H regarding the regulation of prices for wholesale local voice call termination services on mobile telecom networks and fixed telecom networks in the Kingdom, as well as the studies conducted by the Commission in this regard, were presented to its Board of Directors, which convened today (3 Jumada al-Awwal 1436H) chaired by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Suwayel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology. The Board approved a reduction in the prices of wholesale local voice call termination services on mobile telecom networks so that the price ceiling would be (15) halalas instead of (25) halalas, and a reduction in the prices of wholesale local voice call termination services on fixed telecom networks so that the price ceiling would be (7) halalas instead of (10) halalas.

It should be noted that wholesale local voice call termination prices between telecom service providers refer to those prices that one service provider receives from another service provider in exchange for delivering incoming calls to subscribers on its network, paid by the service provider from which the calls originated to the service provider that received the calls.

The Commission hopes that reducing wholesale local voice call termination prices between telecom service providers will contribute to reducing the final retail prices offered to the end user, due to the link between wholesale voice call termination prices that service providers charge each other and their impact on the prices offered to the end user.