Lack of laws to govern the use of international gateways is hampering the move to reduce high international call tariffs by regional mobile-phone operators in Zambia.Two private mobile-phone service providers, MTN and Zain, have been given licenses to access the international gateway facility that was previously exclusive to the government-run Zambia Telecommunication Co. (Zamtel), which is now being sold in the wake of financial problems.But Zain Managing Director David Holliday has complained that since the licenses were issued by the Zambia Information and Technology Authority (ZICTA), the country's telecom sector regulator, the service provider has been unable to reduce international call tariffs because there is no law in place to allow the company to make considerable adjustments in its international tariff plan.

In addition, the Zambian government has not said how much the service providers are supposed to pay for licenses that were initially pegged at US$12 million, despite promising to reduce the license fee two years ago.

Zambia's international gateway had remained closed since liberalization policies were introduced for others areas of the telecom sector 20 years ago. The Zambian government claimed the gateway had been closed from private operators for security reasons. The freeing of the international gateway last December by the Zambian government was expected to lower the price of international call tariffs by MTN and Zain.
International calling rates are still high, however, because the Zambian government has not come up with a law to govern the use of the gateways despite giving out licenses to service providers. Service providers are still charging the old tariffs for international and local calls as they are waiting for the enactment of the new law.
"When the new law is in place, we will be making a significant reduction in our international calling rates," said Holliday at a recent media briefing in Lusaka.
The Zambia gateway fees were the highest in the Eastern and Southern African region and were cited as a barrier to entry in the telecom sector. The granting of the international gateway licenses is expected to result in more competition in international services, which were in the past a monopoly for Zamtel. Zain and MTN expect the reduction in international tariffs to reduce the cost of doing business in Zambia and to level the playing field.
MTN also claims that the company will only be able to reduce international call tariffs once the guidelines are provided by the Zambian government.
The Zambian minister of communications and transport, professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa, said the legislation that will regulate the use of the international gateway has already been drafted and approved by the Zambia government. However, the law is yet to be presented to parliament for approval.
Zambia has been under pressure from Southern African countries, World Bank and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to reduce international call costs by cutting or scraping termination or roaming charges in a bid to increase traffic flow and save customers from exploitation by service providers.