Zimbabwe's mobile voice tariffs could decline by as much as 8 cents per minute, but only if the country's telecom industry regulator is allowed to have its way.

The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) this month issued a circular to mobile operators in Zimbabwe, saying they have to cut their tariffs from the current 23 cents per minute to about 15 cents per minute.

Although the state telecom watchdog is angling for mobile phone companies to cut their voice tariffs, it has decided not to force a cut in the tariffs for data, saying these should be determined by market forces.

“After due consideration of the concerns raised by the consumers on tariffs being charged by operators, and representations made by operators on the same issue, the Regulator adopted a new costing model which is based on the long-run incremental cost methodology (LRIC)," Potraz said in a circular dated October 16 2014.

The new tariffs are expected to be put in effect by the end of this year while they will have to be further reduced to 12 cents per minute next year.

By the end of 2016, Potraz wants the Zimbabwean telcos to charge 9 cents per minute for voice calls.

Interconnection fees, which have previously been the subject of contention between Econet Wireless and state run NetOne, are also to be slashed from the seven cents operators are currently charging each other to five cents by December.

"The COSITU model that was used from 2004-2009 was designed for circuit switched circuits has since been rendered obsolete due to technological and market developments in terms of newer services that are packet-based across the board,” adds the regulator in its communication.