Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda on Thursday said the country?s cellphone giants have agreed to introduce more affordable retail products by December.

Nyanda announced this after informing parliamentarisn in the National Assembly that mobile termination rates (MTR) would be reduced early next year.

The MTR determines what different mobile networks charge to terminate calls on each other's networks.

Vodacom and Cell C clients are only likely to see some cost reductions on their cellphone bills by February next year, whilst MTN's reduced mobile termination costs come into effect the following month.

Nyanda did not quite meet expectations by giving cellphone users an early Christmas box, but he said there was good news for the festive season.

"I'm glad to report to the house that mobile operators have committed to introduce new and affordable retail products based on their reduced rated from 1 December."

Nyanda said he hoped these development would introduce more competition in the retail market.