Senegal’s Sonatel increases incoming call rates

Senegal’s national PTO Sonatel is reportedly increasing the cost of incoming phone calls terminating on its network, according to Agence Ecofin citing RFM Radio. The broadcaster reported the president of the Consumers’ Association of Senegal (ASCOSEN), Momar Ndao, as saying that the increase affects landline and mobile calls and raises the price per minute for international calls to either a fixed or mobile number to XOF150.65 (USD0.249), from XOF137.65 per minute previously. Whilst the telecoms regulator L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecoms et des Postes (ARTP) is yet to confirm the increase, the hike is a concern to the large number of Senegalese living abroad who had welcomed a decision to repeal the surcharge on incoming calls in 2012. However, Sonatel has acted swiftly to ease their concerns, with Abdou Karim Mbengue, director of corporate communications and external relations, saying that the new rates apply only to ‘repayments of international communications between operators’ (i.e. international call termination rate) and the increase is only in direct response to other operators in the West African sub-region which have increased their rates since the start of this year.