The Nigerian Communication commission (NCC), which is the independent regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria, yesterday met with telecommunications operators in the country to review the mobile voice termination rates.

According to Ceoafrica, a termination rate is the rate an operator, whose network is used to make a call, pays to another operator, whose network is used by a consumer to receive a call. It is also known as interconnection rate.

 The present interconnection rates had been in effect since April 2013 and they are reviewed either downward or upward every four years.

Speaking before the meeting with operators in Abuja yesterday, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta said there was need for the review because the global financial markets had impacted on operating cost of operators.

“The scale of changes will inevitably affect the unit cost of providing services including interconnection and may lead to differences between regulated interconnection rates and underlying costs which in turn may result in differences between on-net and off-net retail tariffs”, Prof Danbatta, who was represented by the Director of policy formation and control, Mrs Josephine Amuwa, said.