Kazakh PM Urges to Cut LD, Mobile, Internet Tariffs in 2006"

ASTANA, April 20 (Prime-Tass) -- Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov called for cutting the long-distance tariffs of fixed-line operator Kazakhtelecom, as well as all companies? tariffs for mobile and Internet services, Aliakpar Matishev, chairman of the competition committee at the Industry Ministry, told a briefing Thursday.

"At a meeting last week, the prime minister ordered us to cut long-distance tariffs by up to 15% in the first half of the year and by up to 20% in the second half of the year and to cut Internet tariffs by up to 50% this year and that we cut tariffs for cellular comminications," Matishev said.

The committee "is ready to fulfill the task this year," Matishev said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Kazakh telecommunication companies provided services worth 61.3 billion tenge in January-March, or 30% up on the year.

Of the total, mobile services accounted for 44% of the total revenue of telecommunication companies in January-March, while domestic long-distance services accounted for 19.5%, local fixed-line services for 7.6% and Internet access services for 5%, the agency said.

Kazakhtelecom is controlled by the government. The company has a 49% stake in Kazakh leading mobile operator GSM Kazakhstan, as well as stakes in some other mobile operators and Internet providers.

(125.86 tenge - U.S. $1)

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Posted to the site on 20th April 2006