NCC Increases Int’l Termination Rate to N24.40

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the International Termination Rate (ITR) has been reviewed to N24.40 per minute. In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday, the telecommunications regulator said the review of the interconnect charges was for inbound traffic.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission, on September 16, 2016 reviewed the termination rate for international inbound traffic from 3.90/min to 24.40/min. The interim rate will subsist pending the conclusion of the study of the Determination of Cost Based Pricing for Mobile Voice Termination Rates,” the commission said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that increase in the ITR can be traced to a recommendation in a publication prepared by NCC’s Policy, Competition & Economic Analysis Department in 2015.

The recommendation was based on the premise that telecommunications service providers and government might prefer higher rates that bring in hard currency and can fund investment; expand domestic network; fund innovation; and improve quality of service.

The department said international termination rate had no impact on the domestic subscribers, hence, the need to review it. “It would be in the interest of the economy to allow international traffic termination rate to be settled through negotiation and commercial agreement between the domestic service providers and international traffic carriers,” the department recommended.
The reviewed ITR may be NCC’s response to help domestic service providers increase their revenue.