South Sudan’s National Communication Authority (NCA) announced adjustment of the tariff exchange rate for communication services from the previous 300 to 618.75 South Sudanese Pounds effective Thursday.
Napoleon Adok Gai, the Director General of NCA, said the latest move aims to align the communication service tariff rate with the Bank of South Sudan official exchange rate.
Gai cited impact of COVID-19 pandemic and recent rise in global oil prices for the increase in the tariff.
“Global oil prices have risen significantly which negatively affect the network operators’ ability to sustain the generators that power network, and pay satellite connectivity that received and relay communication services in South Sudan,” he said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan,
The previous exchange rate was set in 2020 when the local SSP was exchanging at 176 with the dollar but currently the official exchange rate is 658 with the dollar.
“NCA has been reluctant to adjust the tariffs exchange rate. However, our attempt to control the current exchange rate at 300 SSP to dollar was unsustainable for the mobile network operators because we are demanding them to provide quality network coverage across the country,” Gai said.
He added that the drop in the value of the SSP by 100 percent against the dollar since the last exchange rate review in 2020 means that inflation has risen and the costs of keeping the networks running are currently very high.
“However, the authority would like to emphasize that these exchange rate adjustments are subject to review should the central bank exchange rate fall below 600 SSP,” Gai noted.
The telecommunication service providers in South Sudan include, Digitel telecommunications, South African-owned mobile giant MTN, and Zain telecom.
