GCC mobile roaming rates cut from April 1

By Staff Reporter — MUSCAT: APRIL 17 - The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced reductions in roaming prices for voice calls, mobile data and SMS services. This is in line with the initiative of the GCC regulators — under the umbrella of the GCC General Secretariat — to regulate the prices of roaming services within the Gulf countries.

The new price caps are effective starting from April 1. This reduction comes as part of the previous initiatives towards facilitating the availability of roaming services for GCC nationals and residents within affordable price levels. The first roaming regulation issued in 2010 covered only voice calls made while roaming and was implemented gradually over a two-year period, with full implementation in February 2012.

The second roaming regulation, which started in the month of April last year with price caps for the reduction of roaming charges on both inter-operator wholesale level and end user retail level, is taking place gradually over a period of three years for voice calls and SMS services, and over a five-year period for the mobile data service. The prices shown above are ceilings that operators are free to compete within by setting prices below these regulatory caps to provide more attractive and innovative offers to consumers.