The East African Communications Organization (EACO) Guidelines on Costing Methodologies (2021) provide a harmonized framework for estimating telecommunications service costs across member states. The guidelines promote the use of Forward-Looking Long-Run Incremental Cost (FL-LRIC), supported by top-down, bottom-up, and hybrid modeling approaches to ensure robust and efficient cost estimation. They emphasize key principles such as cost causality, transparency, consistency, and objectivity, ensuring that costs reflect efficient network design and service delivery. The framework covers capital and operational expenditures, network components, and allocation of shared costs. It is primarily applied in interconnection pricing, tariff setting, and regulatory decision-making. Overall, the guidelines aim to strengthen regulatory capacity, enhance market competition, and support affordable, high-quality telecommunications services across the East African region.
