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.
State-controlled Telkom is still South Africa's only national fixed-line operator after the launch of a rival was delayed. The company owns the lines linking homes and offices to the local telephone exchange.
Only a fraction of the country has access to the Internet and a boom in phone access has been driven by the mobile industry, not fixed-line systems.
Telkom has fought attempts to further open up the industry, which would effectively dismantle its monopoly, and analysts say real liberalisation could hurt its revenues, particularly given increased competition from mobile operators in its voice business.
Consumer groups had hoped the government would make concrete proposals - such as forcing Telkom to unbundle the local loop - following several recent meetings with industry players that had been slated to bring action.
But the government statement gave no details of plans for tackling high costs - which Mbeki has cited as a drag on growth - other than saying industry players and the government would work on a "policy review".