ID'S PATRICIA DE LILLE - CELL PHONE RATE REDUCTIONS ‘PARLIAMENT'S CHRISTMAS GIFT TO THE NATION'

ID President Patricia de Lille says the announcement today in Parliament that cell phone operators have agreed to introduce new and affordable retail products based on reduced rates as from 1 December this year, ‘is Parliament's Christmas gift to the nation.'

Minister Siphiwe Nyanda told Parliament today that the reduction in the cell phone interconnection fee during peak times from R1.25 to 89 cents and during off peak times from R1.03 to 77 cents would take effect from 1 February 2010.

‘However, the operators finally succumbed to pressure and agreed to introduce new and affordable retail products based on these reduced rates from 1 December 2009,' says Ms De Lille, who launched the campaign to reduce the rates just three and a half months ago.

‘The ID welcomes these reductions as a start to reducing the interconnection rate to acceptable levels that curb some of the obscene profits made by cell phone operators until now.

‘The ID was right to lay a complaint with the Competition Commission to investigate the high interconnection rates and the voluntary reduction by the operators confirms that interconnection rates were too high,' De Lille says.

‘The Minister has agreed with me that this is a big Christmas gift from Parliament to the nation. I wish to thank the Minister and the Director-General of Communications for their hard work and support for my campaign.

‘This is an example of Parliament working for the people in that our success has translated into savings of billions of rand and will have an impact on the life of almost every single South African,' says De Lille.

‘The ID has been vindicated and we would like to state for the record that we disagree with those that say the Minister interfered with the work of Icasa.

‘There was no interference by the Minister to take over the role of Icasa. The fact of the matter is that the Minister does indeed have the legal mandate to do what he did in terms of the Electronics Communications Act,' De Lille says.

Statement issued by Patricia de Lille, leader of the Independent Democrats, November 12 2009

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