MTN Rwanda’s customers that use roaming services will have to dig dip into their pockets to pay for the service following  an announcement by the mobile operator that it can no longer absorb the high call termination charges.

MTN says it intends to trim the swelling bill for call termination charges which it pays to international operators with which they have roaming partnerships.

This week the operator introduced roaming tariffs, where its customers will be charged for receiving calls while in Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Belgium, Sudan, Swaziland and Botswana.

A customer receiving a call will be charged Rwf60 per minute while a client calling from Rwanda is charged Rwf30 per minute.

MTN’s Senior Sales and Marketing Manager, Yvonne Manzi Makolo, said that for the past few years the operator’s customers have enjoyed free roaming services in the selected countries. Yet traditionally, telecom companies across the world charge their customers for all roaming services.

"Regrettably, the carrier costs have become too high to be absorbed,” Makolo said, yesterday, in a statement she sent to Business Times.

"MTN would like to assure its customers that its management is in negotiations with the carrier to get a reduction in the costs. In the meantime receiving SMS will still be free as the cost will continue to be absorbed by MTN.”

Makolo added that the company regrets any inconveniences the change may cause, but believes that MTN customers appreciate the freedom of retaining their numbers when they travel out of the country.

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