Cellular operators to cut interconnect rate in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's cellular operators have undertaken to lower their mobile communications rates, Kapital.kz reports citing head of Kazakhstan Agency for Protection of Competition Bolatbek Kuandykov. "The agency has been working to lower the interconnection rate. In the beginning of 2013 the cellular operators were instructed to lower the rates by 15 percent," he said. Interconnection allows for calls placed by a subscriber in one network to reach a subscriber in another network. However, Kuandykov did not give any details on when exactly the rates will be lowered. But he noted that the rates of Kazakhstan's cellular operators were higher for all types of services that in other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. The Agency is performing a survey in this relation. Earlier Kazakhstan Ministry of Transport and Communications decided to check the quality of the services rendered by Kazakhstan's cellular operators in response to Nursultan Nazarbayev's criticism. The number of users of cellular communications in Kazakhstan reached 29.9 million people in 2012.