Sri Lanka TRC introduces a price floor for outgoing mobile phone calls

Sri Lanka's Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) has set minimum prices for mobile phone calls in a bid to minimize the losses incurred by the industry.



TRC Chief Anusha Pelpita has told the local media that the Commission has set a price floor of Rs. 2 for outgoing calls for all mobile phone networks from today (15).

The current lowest tariff of 25 cents per minute had resulted in losses of billions of rupees to the mobile phone industry, the authorities say.

"Last year, the mobile industry lost Rs. 23 billion," Pelpita has said, adding that it was the first loss for the cellular industry since mobile phones were introduced in 1989.

"Excessive price wars between operators are partly to blame for this mess. We are putting in price floor at the request of operators to minimize the losses," he has said.

According to Pelpita, the losses in the mobile phone industry have made it difficult to invest in new technologies for network expansion and broadband services.