The East African Community (EAC) is set to introduce new roaming caps for its One Network Area (ONA), setting the maximum chargeable tariff for data roaming at $0.005 (Sh0.65) per megabyte and $0.027 per text for message roaming.
This will have far-reaching implications for individuals and businesses in the region. Here is how it will benefit you.
The EAC One Network Area (ONA) is an initiative of the regional economic bloc to reduce the cost of mobile communications across member States. It was rolled out in 2014 and currently has six of the eight EAC States as participants. Through ONA, it is cheaper to call someone in Uganda or Tanzania, compared to calling someone in Nigeria, for example.
What is roaming?
Roaming refers to the ability to continue accessing mobile phone connection services when you are outside the coverage area of your home network, such as when you travel outside the country.
It normally attracts additional fees for making calls, sending text messages or browsing the internet using broadband data, because your home operator has to pay the foreign service provider for using its interconnection services. Normally, operators have preferred roaming partners for each country you visit, with whom they have agreed interconnection charges.
How does ONA improve affordability of roaming in the EAC?
All the telecom operators in ONA member countries are required to set their tariffs within the required limits to achieve the desired goal of reducing the cost of mobile connection within the region. Currently, the ONA only caps voice roaming at $0.007 (Sh9.6) per minute. This was set during the initial roll-out of ONA in 2014 and has significantly reduced the cost of calling back home when visiting other countries in the region, or when calling people in ONA nations. All operators are required to price their charges below the cap.
Now, the EAC technical committee on communications has introduced caps for data and SMS roaming, which were not originally set when ONA was introduced 10 years ago.. The new caps are $0.005 (Sh0.65) per megabyte for data roaming and $0.027 (Sh3.5) per message for SMS roaming.
How will the new roaming caps benefit Kenyans?
The new roaming caps, once implemented, will force telcos to significantly reduce their roaming charges, providing cheaper connectivity options for Kenyans travelling across the region for business or leisure.
A spot check by the Business Daily revealed that the top telcos in Kenya, Safaricom and Airtel, are charging far more than the caps for data roaming in the region. For example, Safaricom charges Sh3 per megabyte (MB) for data roaming with its preferred partners in the region and as high as Sh350 per MB on other networks.
If the new caps are implemented, it will have to charge a maximum of Sh0.65 per MB on both its preferred and other networks. This will reduce data roaming rates by at least 78 percent for Kenyans visiting Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Burundi and Rwanda, the other five members of the ONA.
When will Kenyans start enjoying the benefits?
The new caps have just been proposed by the EAC technical committee in collaboration with the sector regulators of the member countries.
The proposal will then go to the Sectoral Council, which comprises ICT ministers from across the region, before being submitted to the EAC Council of Ministers, which comprises the ministers responsible for regional cooperation and is the central decision-making organ of the EAC.
A source told the Business Daily that the entire process is expected to take over six months and the new caps may go into effect by May or June next year.
What are the negative implications of the new caps?
If approved by the EAC Council of Ministers, the brunt of the negative impact of the new caps will be borne by mobile network operators in Kenya and across the region, who will be forced to take a hit on their data roaming revenues.
Such revenues constitute a significant proportion of telcos revenues, and a cut of more than 70 percent is expected to have a substantial impact. For example, Safaricom earned Sh11.5 billion from roaming in the financial year to March 2024, which could fall significantly under the new caps.
