Communication costs in Benin

The costs vary according to the communication services (telephone, mobile phone, Internet, etc.).
Pricing in the fixed network is in increments of one minute. It is 20 francs CFA per minute (0,03 Euros/minute) locally and 60 francs CFA per minute (0,09 Euros/minute) intercity. For many public services such as telecommunications, the demand structure is such that there are times of high demand (peak hours) and times of low demand (low hours). In order to move a little peak-demand to off-peak differentiated tariffs are applied for the provision of services. In the case of telecommunications, it is known that the volume of phone calls the day is greater than the volume of calls at night. The opening hours of administration and commerce are those of peaks and the night is supposed to include off-peak hours. The practice of discriminatory prices can move a part of the volume of telephone calls of the day, by households, to night, in order to benefit from tariff reductions. This practice also reduces network congestion often observed during peak hours and disrupting business operations and administration.
 Despite the relatively large number of operators, their prices are very competitive and prices seem to be very close to each other with very small differences. The pricing options are only intended to attract customers to the network or for special types of communication (communication on the same network, communication to the international). The five operators offer virtually the same rates as they do not have the same market share (source: GSM Operators, December 2008).
The analysis of the perception of households shows that they are not satisfied with the call rates despite recent price declines. Indeed, the vast majority of households believe that the cost of calls on mobile phones are high and too high (41.9% and 29.4%) (source : Enquête RIA et CEFRED, 2008).