Malé, Maldives – Minister of Economic Development and acting Minister of Communication, Science and Technology, Fayyaz Ismail has said that the changes telecom companies have brought to internet prices was insignificant.
In a tweet Minister Fayyaz posted this evening following State Minister of Communication, Science and Technology Ministry, Ali Solih‘s comment that presidential pledge of lowering internet prices had been fulfilled, Minister Fayyaz stated that while these changes brought by the service providers was insignificant, that the government was working on brining more significant changes.
Speaking on a programme by local news channel “RajjeTV”, Solih stated that due to various interactions with Maldivian internet providers, favourable changes have now come to internet prices. He noted that the price of a GB has dropped from MVR 33 to just MVR 5 since the beginning of Ramadan.
” What i’m saying is that, people who were receiving 30 GB for MVR 1000, now receive 180 GB for MVR 1000. This means that the price of a GB has decreased to MVR 5.5. Comparisons need to be made with other countries, and this is a huge improvement when doing these comparisons”
Ali Solih
” I can confidently say that the President’s pledge has been fulfilled, internet prices have dropped. However, other things will be improved along with prices”
Ali Solih
He also noted that Maldives was the only country able to acquire a submarine cable during the current pandemic, and the citizens are already experiencing better prices as a results.
While Ali Solih claims the pledge to decrease internet prices has already been fulfilled, the incumbent government’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP) states that efforts to lower internet prices will begin in the year 2022.
Economic Minister of Maldives, Fayyaz Ismail had stated on November 15, 2020 that they expect the pricing of telecom services to get cheaper as the government has decided give another company the license to provide telecom services in Maldives but till date no updates on the matter had been shared with the public by the government.
Minister Fayyaz also stated on that day that a new telecom company enters the market, and as the competition among the companies increases, it is expected that the telecom pricing will decrease to a good price over the years.
