Namibian telcos told to stop “embarrassing squabble”

The Namibian minister of information and communication technology has stepped in to put a stop to a row between the country’s telecoms operators over interconnection rates.

Last month, in a series of press releases incumbent fixed-line operator NT accused rival MTC of “exorbitant” and “unfair” interconnection fees, prompting MTC to accuse NT of distorting the facts.

Now Minister Joel Kaapanda has called on MTC, Namibia Telecom (NT) and CellOne to stop their "public squabbles", according to newspaper The Namibian.

National newspaper The Namibian quoted a letter that it says was sent by Kaapanda to MTC, NT and CellOne that accused the telcos of being “a big embarrassment to this ministry in particular and the Government in general", and creating "the impression that the Ministry is incapable of managing the industry".

Kaapanda, who is reported to have called for a meeting with the operators to resolve the dispute, is quoted admitting that the ministry has "limited lee-way to enforce discipline among the operators”.