ALL current prices of internet and airtime bundles offered by mobile companies have gone through processes for approval and are within agreed amount, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) stated.
TCRA Director General Dr Jabiri Bakari said current prices of bundles range from 1.5/- to 9.35/- per megabyte.
His statement comes following concerns from mobile phone users that sometimes they pay high but use fewer amounts of data of airtime.
In his address to the media which was live on social media platforms on Monday, Dr Bakari clarified that in most cases users find their data or airtime bundles have quickly finished due to various factors, among them, increased internet speed and capacity of particular smartphone.
Other reasons are increased quality of pictures and videos, something which also increases size, as well as having many mobile applications that do auto updates.
TCRA’s Director of Industry Affairs, Dr Emmanuel Manasseh, said stressed: “No bundle gets into market without approval by the TCRA and the authority considers value for money, and it protects customers.”
He added that the TCRA as supervisor of the sector has always ensured that there is balance of interests of stakeholders.
Dr Manasseh added that the sector has been growing so fast and the country has witnessed increased uses of telecommunication services.
As the use of services increased, the prices have significantly reduced.
For instance, between 2015 and 2020 costs for calling to another network (interconnection) have been reducing year after year.
“Last year the cost for interconnection (a cost which your telecom service provider pays to another service provider) was 2.6/- but it has reduced to 2/- this year,” he stated.
However, he said, only 27 per cent of mobile phone users have smartphones and use internet bundles.
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