Regulators in several West African markets have signed agreements that will facilitate roaming.
Senegal’s Authority of Regulation of Telecommunications and Post (L’Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications et des Postes, ARTP) and the Regulatory Authority of Mauritania (Autorite de Regulation, ARE) have signed a memorandum of understanding that will see the regulators work together on limiting cross-border interference. Improved frequency management will directly impact the network quality experienced by mobile users that live in regions along the 742km border that the two countries share.
Ghana and Togo have also signed a bilateral mutual free international roaming agreement. Singed by Togo’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP) and Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) on 1st November 2023, the MoU will comply with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Roaming Regulations and is due to be implemented on 1st March 2024.
In a statement, ARCEP noted that scrapping roaming charges between the markets would drive down prices substantially, with CommsUpdate reporting that outgoing calls would be reduced to around XOF8.67 (USD0.14) per minute. Currently Togocom charges around XOF279, while Moov Africa Togo charges XOF550. Similarly, mobile data roaming charges will be capped at XOF1.6 per MB – current rates can reach XOF8,400.
