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Senegal: No more call monitoring surtax on SONATEL
According to a decree, in spite of the telephone operators’ complaints, the American company, Global Voice, should assist the Agency to regulate telecommunications and posts (ARTP) in the establishment of a monitoring system and pricing of all the coming in international telephone calls. According to the ARTP authorities, this partnership would allow the Treasury to earn up to 10.192 million US dollars, and under the terms of the contract, 51% of the money generated by the new billing should go to the state and 49% to Global Voice.
The announcement of this partnership was rejected and provoked an outcry. Some experts believe that the equipment for the monitoring of calls was overcharged by Global Voice. Others denounce the opaque nature of the contract that allows a company of less than ten employees to reap every month nearly 6.114 million US dollars, while millions of Senegalese migrants are overtaxed and the consumer defence associations were denouncing the rate increases resulting from this control. Many experts also feared a decline in calls and a rise in frauds. The SONATEL staff and unions shut down long-distance and Internet telecoms services in protest, causing massive disruption of national and international communications. The National Telecommunications Company’s (SONATEL) director of operations and international relations, was quoted as saying the surtax would cost the company around 167.5 million US dollars in lost revenue a year if such control is applied. Finally, the political class has found the contract not borrowing the normal regulation channels, and then SONATEL sent a formal request to the Procurement Regulatory Agency (ARMP), which decided to suspend the contract and demanded its cancellation, between Senegal and Global Voice, because of “irregularities in the contract. President Abdoulaye Wade decided to withdraw the controversial decree which gave to Global Voice Company control on all incoming international calls. With this new measure we are returning to the old tariffs, Sonatel communications adviser said.