­The cost of voice calls in South Africa dropped by 24% over a two year period, the telecoms regulator has announced.

The regulator, Icasa said that the fall was motivated by the  introduction of Call Termination Rate Regulations in March 2010, which resulted in the cost of prepaid mobile voice calls dropping from R1.37 to R1.04.

The regulator said that the drop in the costs for prepaid mobile voice calls demonstrates the benefits of the reduction in termination rates.

The introduction of one-rate packages across networks in 2010, new tariff plans launched in early 2012 as well as the increased number and benefits available to end-users through promotional packages subsequent to the regulation of termination rates indicate an increasingly competitive retail market and lower retail prices.

The termination rate is set to fall further from the current R0.56 at peak time to R0.40 in March 2013.