South African telecom companies have agreed to work with the government to cut the cost of phone calls and Internet access in Africa's biggest economy, the government said on November 01. But it declined to say what steps would be taken to bring down tariffs, which President Thabo Mbeki has said deter investors and impede the availability of communications to the country's millions of poor and isolated people. The government said in a statement it had met with state-controlled fixed-line carrier Telkom as well as mobile firms Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, plus smaller operators running networks in rural areas. "Partipants at the meeting committed to working together to find a workable solution to the immediate concerns on the costs of telecommunication services and service delivery in South Africa," the department of communications said in a statement. Consumer groups and smaller telecoms and IT companies say South Africa has been slow to reform its communications industry and argue more competition is needed.