The East African Community (EAC) is stepping up efforts to make cross-border mobile roaming cheaper and more reliable, but regulators and operators say persistent gaps could undermine progress if not resolved.
At consultations under the Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project, governments and telecom players agreed to overhaul the bloc’s One Network Area (ONA) roaming framework, which has already reduced call charges in some member states.Officials acknowledged, however, that affordability remains uneven, consumer awareness is low, and regulatory loopholes are leaving room for fraud.The Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, the EAC’s newest members, pledged to join the regime, while regulators stressed the need for standardised interconnect rules to streamline traffic routing and ensure fair competition.
Key challenges include SIM boxing fraud that distorts roaming charges, the lack of clear fair-usage rules to prevent abuse of discounted rates, and growing concerns from smaller operators who fear being squeezed out by larger rivals. Regulators also point to weak enforcement across borders, which leaves many disputes unresolved and undermines confidence in the system.
“East Africans should be able to move, trade, and connect without worrying about exorbitant phone bills,” said Franklin Makokha of Kenya’s Communications Authority. “Closing the gaps in ONA will unlock vast opportunities.”
Consumer education is also emerging as a sticking point. Despite lower tariffs in some markets, many users are unaware of the ONA and continue to pay higher rates, limiting the framework’s economic impact.
The revised framework under discussion is expected to add safeguards against fraud, fair-usage limits, and rules for emerging technologies like e-SIMs, IoT roaming, and data-driven services. But with implementation depending on national regulators and mobile operators, analysts warn that execution risks remain high.
For citizens, success could mean lower roaming bills and easier connectivity across borders. For telecom operators, the framework promises fairer rules and more predictable returns. For policymakers, however, the challenge is ensuring that the ONA works in practice, not just on paper.