The East African Community (EAC) One Network Area (ONA) has expanded with the entry of Burundi effective August 1.
In a communiqué to the public dated July 29, the Burundi Telecommunications Regulation and Control Agency (ACRT) announced new tariffs for regional roaming in accordance with the directives of an October 2023 decree on the accession to the EAC ONA.
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Burundi now joins Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania, as partner states that implemented the ONA that effectively reduces the high cost of telecommunications in the region. The One Network Area commenced on January 1, 2015, initially covering Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan.
"These unique tariffs, competitive on a regional scale, will significantly reduce the costs of cross-border communications within the EAC,” said ACRT in its communiqué.
The ACRT further directed mobile network operators to clearly communicate the applicable tariffs for regional direct and roaming framework communications and apply the detailed billing to verify the communications made and the amounts invoiced, adding that this would ensure a transparent, reliable, and satisfactory user experience.
The entry of Burundi into the ONA means that six out of the eight EAC partner states have now onboarded into the arrangement that promises cheaper calls and mobile data roaming charges across the region. The newest countries in the bloc - DR Congo and Somalia - are yet to join the ONA.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors, Andrea Aguer Ariik, hailed Burundi for joining the network adding that the move would ease the doing of business in East Africa and aid the free movement of persons, workers, services, and capital as enshrined in the EAC Common Market Protocol.
"The entry of Burundi will reduce the high cost of mobile roaming charges in the region and strengthen the integration process because East Africans can now communicate more easily without fear of high billing charges on mobile calls whether at home or in another partner state,” he said.
"The ONA also promotes easier communication among the business community who have to span the entire region while transacting merchandise or services. We look forward to a time when all the eight partner states will be fully on the network. It will be a big boost on our journey to an integrated East Africa,” added Ariik.
The framework for harmonised EAC roaming was developed and approved by the 30th Meeting of the Council of Ministers in 2014 and endorsed by the EAC Heads of State in February 2015. The framework-imposed price caps on roaming charges and called for the removal of surcharges on cross-border telecommunications traffic originating and terminating within the East African Community.
The 16th Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State directed the Council to expedite the implementation of the Framework for Harmonised EAC roaming charges, including the removal of surcharges for international telecommunications traffic originating and terminating within the EAC by July 15.