Internet retail price set to drop

By CLARISSA MOI
THE internet retail price in the country is expected to decrease from April, according to the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (Nicta).
Chief executive officer Kila Gulo-Vui told The National that this followed the decision on service-specific pricing principles for submarine cable services determination which came into effect on Jan 1.
The determination sets a maximum rate for wholesaling bandwidth through the submarine cable services, which determines the internet retail prices.
Gulo-Vui said under that regulation, further reductions should be expected in the second quarter of the year.
“The current average price range is K209 per megabite per second per month,” he said.
Information and Communication Technology Minister Timothy Masiu recently said the new determination offered a fair and reasonable rate to information communication technology service suppliers and users.
Masiu noted that the original determination on service-specific pricing principles was gazetted on Dec 17, 2019, and came into effect last Jan 1.
It is now superseded by the recent determination.
“The regulator (Nicta) undertook the review and amended the determination accordingly due to the availability of updated and more reliable information,” Masiu said.
He commended Nicta for ensuring that ICT service prices were maintained at a reasonable level.
“Submarine cable services are one of the many ICT services that are under the regulatory oversight of Nicta,” he said.
Masiu called on Nicta to increase its monitoring of customer complaints in other areas of ICT service delivery, particularly in ensuring service quality and reasonable pricing by service providers at retail level.