Kuwait: Ministry holds meeting Telecom firms stay mum on 'charge per second'

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KUWAIT: Although many nations around the world have adopted a pay-per-second rate for mobile phone calls, this has yet to take effect in Kuwait. There is good news on this front, however, with Ministry of Communications (MoC) officials recently meeting with representatives of the three Kuwaiti telecommunications companies to discuss the issues surrounding the plan to charge mobile phone users on a per second rate and possibly to prepare the telecom firms to implement this new system after Eid Al-Fitr.

The points of discussion also reportedly included the mechanism of charging the GGC users for phone calls made locally and internationally in a single flat rate for calls within, to and from all GCC countries. The UAE, Bahrain and Qatar have already introduced per second charges for all international mobile calls. Telecom firms in India, the Philippines, and some operators in Indonesia also charge their customers, whether on domestic or international calls, according to a per-second rate. Kuwaiti firms, ho
wever, charge customers by the minute.

The spokespersons for Kuwait's three telecom firms refused to comment on whether or not there will be a change to the per-minute pay plan after Eid Al-Fitr.
Zain Telecommunications Company's Public Relations Manager Aliah Sharif Al-Awadhi, Wataniya Telecom Company's Public Relations Manager Abdulaziz Al-Balool and the Chief Executive Officer of VivaViva Telecommunications Company, Najib Al-Awadhi, refused to comment when asked about the subject by the Kuwait Times.

In the previous two-player market when MTC [now Zain] and Wataniya were the only providers of mobile services in the country, international incoming calls were paid for by the recipient and calls made from a landline were paid by the mobile subscriber. The entry of the third player, VivaViva Telecom, changed that system, with incoming calls to mobiles from landline phones now being free.

The news about possible big cuts in phone bills if a per-second pay rate is introduced was welcomed by customers. One 25-year-old female office worker said, "It's good; it will reduce the cost of calls to my family. A one-minute call is expensive," she said explaining that even if her mother only calls briefly to tell her to come home or just to enquire after her health, she still has to pay the cost of the full one-minute conversation, "even though she has used the phone for about five seconds: That is haram. If we can be charged per second, it would save money for us customers," she said.

If poor countries can implement this scheme why not the richer countries like Kuwait?" asked a subscriber to one of the three major local telecom firms. "They could benefit from it extensively depending on the way it's done and how they promote the new scheme." Another customer in his mid-forties disagrees with the notion that many things would change with the introduction of a new pay rate, however.

Ii will be the same. Whether it is per second or per minute there won't be much difference, unless you call and use your mobile phone outside Kuwait," he said. He pointed out that telecom firms aren't going to allow a free service, saying, "How would your business survive if you were giving all-free services to your customers? They are neither charity organizations nor government companies subsidizing public usage.

By Ben Garcia

© Kuwait Times 2010