Lawmakers in South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) have questioned repeated increases in telecommunications tariffs, saying higher costs are making it harder for citizens to afford mobile phone and internet services.
Anei Deng Akok, a national lawmaker representing Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, raised the issue in parliament on Wednesday, questioning why telecommunications companies were allowed to repeatedly increase their tariffs.
“My point of information is about the Ministry of Information and Postal Services for increasing the call tariffs,” Akok said. “These call tariffs are increased almost every day. You wake up in the morning only to get new changes.”
The concerns come after the country’s three telecommunications operators, MTN South Sudan, Zain and Digitel, raised tariffs for voice calls and data bundles on Monday, following another increase in June.
The companies have said the latest adjustments comply with an approved regulated exchange rate and requirements set by the central bank and the South Sudan Revenue Authority.
Akok questioned whether the government was adequately regulating the operators or whether the companies were increasing tariffs independently.
“You wake up in the morning and find new charges. Is it the government that is regulating these companies or do they act on their own?” he said.
Akok also said South Sudan had among the highest communication costs in Africa, although he did not provide evidence to support the claim.
“The only country with the highest call tariffs in Africa is South Sudan,” he said.
MTN’s Zol Kebir daily bundle now costs 13,700 South Sudanese pounds for 1.5 gigabytes, up from 10,000 pounds, while its 2GB daily bundle costs 17,100 pounds, up from 12,000 pounds, according to the figures cited by the lawmaker.
Akok called on parliament to summon Information, Communication and Postal Services Minister Ateny Wek Ateny to explain the tariff increases and the government’s regulation of telecommunications companies.
Michael Makuei Lueth, who is minister of parliamentary affairs, advised the parliamentary standing specialised committee on information and ICT to first meet with the information minister and discuss the issue before bringing it before the full assembly.
“For the issue of tariffs, I think the right procedure is for the honourable member to sit with the committee of information and the minister,” Makuei said.
The parliamentary committee is expected to take up the matter with the Ministry of Information, Communication and Postal Services and seek clarification on the regulation of telecommunications tariffs.
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