Regulator to Lower Mobile Rate Ceilings

Ecuador's telecommunications regulators Conatel and Senatel have decided to lower the rates ceilings for mobile operators Porta and Movistar Ecuador, local paper La Hora reported.

The rates ceiling will drop from 50 to 30 cents per minute for the two operators. The changes will start on August 26, 2008 for Porta, and November 29 of this year for Movistar, the dates for contract renewals.

Regulatory officials said the decision is not open to appeal, the report added.

The regulator is looking to tie together rates for prepaid and postpaid mobile calling to put the two on a more equal footing.

Prepaid calls cost on average 48 to 49 cents per minute, while postpaid plans average between eight and nine cents per minute, the report said citing regulator figures.

Ecuador has some 7.5 million mobile subscribers of which more than 6.5 million use prepaid calling cards, according to the report.

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Posted to the site on 16th October 2006