Mozambique’s third largest mobile network operator Mcel announced it’s slashing its call tariffs as mobile competition to lure more customers intensifies.

The mobile call reduction is largely attributed to the impact being affected by the arrival of the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), which has seen costs for internet and mobile cellphone come down.

Cláudio Chiche, administrator at Mcel said the network operator had cut the costs by 30%.

"Mcel has shown once more it continues to lead in reducing tariffs for prepaid clients," said Chiche.

“We want to continue being the preferred operator in Mozambique,” he said.

Boasting a 4.7 million-subscriber base, Mcel said the move is intended to lure more customers across the country.

The company says a call per minute would cost about 6.5 cents per second throughout Mozambique.

The announcement by Mcel comes a week after leading mobile network operators of Movitel and Vodacom also slashed their call and internet costs.

Mozambique has three mobile networks comprising Mcel, Movitel and Vodacom.