(Business in Cameroon) - Costs charged on roaming are very high and to change this situation, regulators and mobile operators in Central Africa met on Monday and Tuesday in Douala in a workshop on roaming charges, organized by the Assembly of Telecommunications Regulators in Central Africa (ARTAC)

In the sub region, roaming charges go up to more than 1,000 francs CFA per minute. Despite the opening of the sector, competition and even the upshot of subscribers to more than 13 million, roaming rates remain high, according to François Kamkan, a worker at Cameroon’s Agency of Telecommunications Regulation (ART).

Worse, subscribers in border towns are often tipped in roaming in their own country. Users complain that they always have to buy a sim card to call while in another country, the state-owned bilingual daily, Cameroon Tribune said Wednesday. The representative of the International Telecommunication Union (UIT) in Central Africa, Mr. Massima, said it would be necessary to follow the example of countries in South, West and East Africa. “We need noticeable lower rates are as soon as possible after this meeting," he said.