On Friday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced a reduction in the Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) from 70 paisas per minute to 50 paisas from January 1, 2022.
The mobile termination rates are the cost charged by a mobile operator for making an outgoing call on its network. It is one of the three elements in the value of providing telephone service. Firstly, connecting charges; secondly, continuation charges; and finally, termination charges.
Press Release: PTA has reduced the Mobile Termination Rate (MTR) from Rs. 0.70 per minute to Rs. 0.50 per minute from 1st January 2022. Rates shall be further reduced to Rs. 0.40 per minute from 1st July, 2022. pic.twitter.com/As7Mwjovd7
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) November 26, 2021
Mobile Termination Rates Will Further be Reduced Next Year
According to a notification by the PTA, the mobile termination rates will be further decreased to 40 paisas per minute from July 1 next year. The official report stated that the reduction in the mobile termination rates has been made after meticulous consultation with the telecom industry.
Read more: PTA Claims 98% Success Rate in Blocking Immoral and Obscene Content
“The PTA is of the view that lowering of MTR would allow more competitive and innovative offerings such as free minute off-net bundles for the consumers.” The PTA said that it expected the move would make the business “healthier and profitable” in terms of more economical tariffs for making off-net calls, continuing that it would further profit smaller operators in terms of decreased net payments to be made to the bigger operators.
Telecom Operators Requested for Lower Rates
Furthermore, back in July, the statement stated, the PTA issued a consultation paper wherein it was noted that the current MTRs of 70 paisas per minute in Pakistan were higher than the benchmarking outcomes of the MTRs determination of 2018 and the MTRs in regional countries. Moreover, it added, the PTA had also got requests from telecom operators to evaluate the existing rates. “Majority of the responses received supported the PTA’s recommendation to lower the MTR. However, there were opposing responses too.”
In addition to this, after hearing the industry and conducting thorough review, the PTA determined the MTRs for all types of calls – local, long-distance and international incoming calls – terminated on mobile networks from other mobile networks or fixed networks in Pakistan.
Source: Dawn
 announced a reduction in mobile termination rates from 70 paisas per minute to 50 paisas.){kind=link}