MTN Rwanda and its roaming partners have revised their mode of charging under the ‘Home and Away’ package, Business Times has learnt.  However the company has also clarified that the revision of the rates will not necessarily affect the tariffs once subscribers cross borders.

Andrew Rugege the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Nyarutarama, said on Tuesday that, "There are no changes in tariffs but we have changed the way we define the tariffs you are going to use when you have moved to a different country,” he said.

"If somebody from Kenya is visiting Rwanda, they will still use their Safaricom number but will use the prevailing tariff in Rwanda,” he explained. Previously subscribers on ‘Home and Away’ would be charged using local tariffs in their country’s of origin.

"As partners we took a decision because there was nothing to prevent subscribers from using SIM-cards of the roaming partners charging lower tariffs back home. Besides you can top up your airtime with the local airtime,” Rugege said. He also added that the modification of the rates will make it possible for the partners to retain their subscribers.

Under the ‘Home and Away’ package, both prepaid and post paid subscribers can be accessed (voice and data) using either subscribers Kenya’s Safaricom, MTN in Uganda and Vodacom in Tanzania. 

According to Rugege, the ‘Home and Away’ partners have agreed to use the prevailing tariff where they subscriber is visiting.

"This was necessary to avoid the possibility of local networks losing subscribers to roaming partners,” he added.

Rugege also communicated that subscribers on the roaming package should constantly adjust their settings with roaming partners, to avoid picking a different network with probably higher tariffs.

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