(Business in Cameroon) - On February 4, 2014, MTN Cameroon’s management held a press conference during which it addressed the question about its call rates. During this exchange with the press, MTN Cameroon stated that it has the lowest call rates in French-speaking Africa – 45 FCfa per minute.

 In a press release, MTN Cameroon states “no other country to which Cameroon is compared has better rates. In Côte d’Ivoire, for example, where 6 cellular service companies share the market, the lowest rates are offered by MTN Côte d’Ivoire: 60 FCfa per minute! In Senegal, Sonatel is the lowest of the three national phone companies: 75 FCfa per minute. In Congo, MTN offers 60 FCfa while the best per minute billing in Gabon is Moov’s: 120 FCfa.”

 The company, a subsidiary of South-Africa’s MTN, explains that, “today, the per-minute rate for MTN Cameroon is only 45 FCfa when it was 600FCfa in 2000. In 14 years, cellular phone companies have slashed their rates 14 times over. Every year the rates lower and this despite the constant rise in charges, the financial crisis and inflation which all impact our overhead costs.”