Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug.23
By Huseyn Veliyev - Trend:
Azerbaijani mobile operator Bakcell LTD stands for interconnection tariff reduction with Azerfon (NarMobile trademark), Bakcell CEO Richard Shearer told Trend Aug. 23.
The matter rests in the cost of the interconnection, the price of which is set by the state in the amount of AZN 0.02. The connection fee determines the amount one operator pays to another for subscriber's call per minute beyond its network.
Shearer said that now the question is fully agreed with the Azercell Telecom company, which set 0.02 AZN cost for interconnection. As for Azerfon, the cost of interconnection with the company is far from the cost officially established by state which suits neither Bakcell nor Azercell, as the price still remains 0.05 AZN.
"But we hope that this issue will be resolved. Undoubtedly, the rates should be balanced. That is, we have to pay another operator for interconnection as much as they pay us. If one operator pays 0.02 AZN, and the other 0,05 AZN, it certainly can not match the realities of the market. That is why we are in favour of their decline," said Shearer.
Reducing of interconnection cost will significantly reduce the cost of mobile communication services to the end user, Bakcell said earlier.
Earlier, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies informed the mobile operators about the unification of interconnection rates to create equal conditions for the development. The amount of fee for this connection (the price of a final minute of conversation) between operators has been reduced from 0.05 AZN to 0.02 AZN.
The official exchange rate for August 23 is 0, 7844 AZN / USD.