HOW NETWORKS COMPARE ON CALL CHARGES

Dar es Salaam. Tigo subscribers pay the most to make calls both locally and internationally within and outside the network, the latest quarterly report issued by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has revealed.

Tigo customers also pay the most to send text messages (SMS).

The report covering the July 1 to September 30 period says that Tigo subscribers pay Sh360 per minute, excluding tax, to make calls within the network, significantly higher than the quarterly weighted average tariff of Sh278.

Vodacom’s subscribers pay Sh270 per minute, with Halotel and Airtel following on Sh228 and Sh219, respectively.

The report shows that TTCL, Zantel and Benson, which trades as Smart, have the lowest intra-network charges of Sh154, Sh157 and Sh60, respectively.

At Sh480 per minute, excluding tax, Tigo subscribers also pay the most when calling across networks. This is higher than Airtel (Sh361), Vodacom (Sh330), TCCL (Sh274), Zantel (Sh249), Halotel (Sh228) and Smart (Sh150). The quarterly average tariff was Sh365.

In calling other East African countries, Halotel is the most expensive at Sh1,033 per minute, excluding tax, followed by Tigo (Sh1,022), Zantel (Sh1,020), Airtel (Sh750), Vodacom (Sh719) and TTCL (Sh650).

At Sh198 per minute, Smart has the cheapest East African rate, which is well below the quarterly average rate of Sh795.

For International calls, Tigo charges Sh1,737 per minute, excluding tax, followed by Airtel (Sh1,520), Halotel (Sh1,330), Vodacom (Sh1,090), Smart (Sh868) and TTCL which had the lowest rate at Sh600 against the average tariff for the period of Sh1,355.

According to the report, Tigo subscribers are charged Sh70 for every SMS, followed by Zantel (Sh65), Vodacom (Sh51), Airtel (Sh50), TTCL (Sh47), Smart (Sh40) and Halotel, which has the cheapest SMS tariff of Sh30. The average rate for the period was Sh59.

For international SMS, Tigo has the highest rate of Sh215 followed by Airtel (Sh156), Vodacom (Sh153), Smart (Sh145), Zantel (Sh138) and TTCL (Sh117). Halotel has the cheapest rate of Sh95, which is the same as the quarterly average tariff.

The report shows that Vodacom still has the most voice subscribers at 12.8 million, which is 32 per cent of the market share, followed by Tigo with 11 million (28 per cent), Airtel with 10.6 million (27 per cent) and Halotel with 3.7 million.

Zantel is fifth with 900,000 subscribers, followed by Smart with 500,000 and TTCL with 300,000 voice subscribers.

The Citizen