As revealed in the official documents, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is expected to revise the Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) to Rs. 0.40 from the current Rs 0.50, starting from 1st July 2022, hence making the off-net calls cheaper. By definition, the Mobile Termination Rate (MTR) is the “price that a Cellular Mobile Operator (CMO) charges to another mobile operator for terminating its off-net calls on its network.”
Off-net calls to become cheaper
As per the documents, the Mobile Termination Rate (MTR) was fixed at Rs. 0.70 per minute from January 2020 onwards in the review of 2019. While the 2021 review of the MTR determined the rate to be at Rs. 0.50 for January 2022- June 2022, which will be further reduced to Rs. 0.40 from July 2022 to June 2023 and will be finally set at Rs. 0.30 from July 2023 onwards.
PTA is of the view that lowering the MTRs would make the market beneficial in terms of lower tariffs for making off-net calls and it will also benefit smaller operators in terms of reduced net payments to be made to the bigger operators. The termination charges are settled among the operators, higher charges will favor the big names as compared to the smaller operators hence it is important to provide a level playing field by rationalizing the termination rates.
PTA received requests to lower MTR
The telecom operators have been requesting PTA to review the current mobile termination rates while the majority of them supported PTA’s stance to lower the MTR. After industry hearing and thorough analysis, the PTA determined the MTR for all types of calls (i.e. local, long-distance and international incoming calls) terminated on mobile networks from other mobile networks or fixed networks in Pakistan and AJ&K/GB, to be Rs. 0.50 per minute from January to June 2022, Rs. 0.40 per minute from July 2022 to June 2023 and Rs. 0.30 per minute from July 2023 onwards.
Read more: PTA Sheds Light on Increased Call and Internet Rates by Mobile Operators
