International mobile roaming rates across the region may see a drop as the GCC's Roaming Working Group (RWG) has proposed a cap on prices of all services from January 1, 2016.
Currently, a regulation puts the ceiling only on outgoing calls made on a roaming plan from anywhere in GCC.
If approved, the new proposal will cover calls, SMSes, MMSes, video calls and data.
Calling unit prices for data roaming a matter of 'particular concern' the RWG's Public Consultation Document on International Mobile Roaming across GCC has said that the volume of international roaming traffic and revenues are substantial and the rates appear to bear little relation to the true underlying cost.
According to RWG findings, this resulted in an average 40 per cent reduction in retail roaming prices across GCC. Now, GCC ministers have through the RWG consultation document, called for a review of all other international roaming services including data, SMS, MMS and video calls, to determine if further regulation is needed.
"It is widely recognised that, in the absence of regulation, the price of international mobile roaming tends to be greatly in excess of the actual underlying costs of supplying such services. These inflated prices are understood to represent a burden on societal efficiency," stated the report.
"It is most appropriate to apply price controls to international mobile roaming calls made, calls received, SMS sent, and roaming data. This maximises socio-economic benefits, as well as benefits to economic integration and social cohesion in the GCC region," it said.
The RWG has also proposed mandating per-second billing for voice calls made and received after the first 30 seconds to prevent over-charges and improve transparency.
"Controlling retail prices directly through a regulation, with effect in all countries in a region, has been shown to be effective in the GCC region. If implemented with due care, direct price controls do not appear to be particularly expensive to implement, and they do not appear to generate problems or dislocations," states the document.
In context of the 40 per cent reduction in international mobile rates following the 2012 implementation, it stated, "With these parameters, and under suitable assumptions, it is straightforward to demonstrate that the regulation resulted in a transfer of societal welfare from network operators to consumers of US$79.5mn, and a reduction in deadweight loss of US$4.3mn in 2012."
The RWG has called all GCC mobile network operators and stakeholders to comment on its preliminary conclusions regarding the course of regulation. The last date for responses, to be submitted to respective state regulatory authorities is November 13, 2014.
