Plans to lower Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) - the amount of money an operator pays another operator when its subscribers call the other network - have been shelved till end of October pending the conclusion of a study on the effects of lowering the MTR.

As posted in the Business Daily, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) was expected to announce a drop in the MTR from the current KES 2.21 to either KES 1.44 or 1.60 after CCK’s Thursdays’ board meeting.

The decision to delay the call rate cuts comes after President Kibaki earlier instruction to CCK to stop the planned drop in termination rate until a fresh study of the same is carried out.

As posted in the Business Daily, a member of CCK Board who sought anonymity said, “We shelved the decision to avoid a confrontation with State House since it appeared we were slighting the Presidency.”

The MTR dropped to KES 2.21 in July 2010 from KES 4.42 in June 2009 . It was expected to drop to KES 1.44 in June last year before the President’s previous intervention. The mobile operators had in May 2012 struck a deal that was to see mobile termination rates fall to KES 1.60 a minute, ending the one year MTR tussle.

Lowering the MTR is aimed at encouraging completion among the mobile operators and could see cross network call rates drop.