The Minister for Communications, Digital Innovation and Technology, Samuel Nartey George, today held a crucial meeting with the Chief Executive Officers of Scancom Ghana Limited (MTN Ghana), Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited (Telecel Ghana), and AirtelTigo. The gathering, described by the Minister as being of “great national importance,” centered on the critical issues of price, value, and quality of data services across the country.
Sam George underscored that access to affordable and reliable internet is an essential necessity in today’s digitally connected world, revealing that the Ministry has initiated a comprehensive consultative process aimed at achieving a sustainable solution to what he termed “misalignment and distortion” within the telecommunications sector over the past eight years.
“This is not an allegation,” he stressed. “The previous administration, the MBC, handed over a sector in 2017 with six thriving telecom operators and four local BWAs offering 4G services. After eight years, I have inherited a sector with one Significant Market Power (SMP) operator, one loss-making Mobile Network Operator (MNO), and another MNO that has been brought to its knees. Three of the MNOs no longer exist, and the four BWAs are dead.”
The Minister highlighted a significant decline in sector growth and investment, noting that the regulator had been essentially on autopilot. He expressed dismay at what he perceived as a “carefully curated, out of dark politics” attempt by proponents of the previous government to create a false narrative about the current challenges, detailing the establishment of a 23-member Data Pricing Review Committee, with a 14-day mandate to develop an implementation Roadmap to address these challenges.
Sam George addressed previous accusations regarding price increases, explaining that while direct price directives were not issued, policy decisions such as the collection of Communication Service Tax (CST) forward cumulatively resulted in price hikes. Similarly, the declaration of MTN as an SMP and the implementation of tariff rationalization, though not direct price directives, led to an effective price increase for customers. He noted that these actions were not adequately and properly implemented and contributed to MTN’s market share growth exceeding 10%, alongside quality of service issues attributed to network configuration and congestion.
To tackle quality of service concerns, the Minister announced that he presented a memorandum to the Cabinet of Ghana aimed at making Spectrum available to MTN Ghana and Telecel Ghana. The Spectrum sale process is expected to be completed by the end of the first week of July. Additionally, Telecel Ghana has received policy approval for the regulator to grant a connecting entity license, enabling the operator to optimize service using the 2100 MHz Spectrum at the disposal of NGIC. This is anticipated to result in significant improvements in quality of service and customer experience in the coming weeks.
However, he cautioned that the recovery from eight years of mismanagement cannot be completed in four months. To this end, all operators have been mandated to make critical investments in their networks to improve quality over the next quarter (July to September).
He was pleased to announce specific measures resulting from his engagement with the CEOs, which are set to take effect from Tuesday, July 1, 2025, with AirtelTigo Ghana, customers are expected to see a 10% increase in all data bundles currently offered by the network. Additionally, the 400 Ghana Cedi bundle, currently offering 195 gigabytes of data, will now offer 236 gigabytes.
Telecel Ghana, has also been instructed to apply a 10% increase in all data bundles currently it currently offers. The 400 Ghana Cedi bundle, currently offering 190 gigabytes, will now offer 250 gigabytes.
Lastly, with MTN Ghana, Ghanaians are to enjoy a 15% increase in all data bundles currently offered by the network. The 399 Ghana Cedi bundle, which had been changed to a 350 Cedi bundle offering 92.88 gigabytes, will be reinstated to offer 214 gigabytes for 399 Ghana Cedi.
The Minister acknowledged that these increases would come at considerable cost to the network operators but expressed satisfaction that engagements with the CEOs and the consultations are bearing fruit for the Ghanaian people.
This July 1, implementation date is to allow networks recalibrate and reconfigure their systems as the National Communications Authority (NCA) has been directed to ensure strict monitoring and implementation of this directive, with sanctions for any failures.
Sam George noted that the changes for MTN are steeper due to its SMP status, adding that the Ministry will continue to work with the regulator and MTN to constantly review their SMP status and make necessary adjustments once market realignment is achieved.
Addressing public concerns about arbitrary data price changes, he stated for the record that “the facts do not support that claim.” He cited the NCA’s billing verification system, which assessed the billing integrity of mobile data services.
“The NCA’s Q3 2024 billing integrity test for MTN, Telecel, and AirtelTigo found that; all data bundles purchased were correctly credited and remained intact throughout their validity, Non-expiry data bundles did not expire, all unused data bundles were rolled over after resubscription.” He affirmed.
In conclusion, Samuel Nartey George expressed confidence in further reductions in the actual prices of data offerings once the Ministry of Finance takes action on the tax handles in the sector. He confirmed ongoing engagement with the Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson Minister to secure approval for the rationalization of some components in the tax build-up, which currently constitutes almost 39% tax build-up in the price of data in the country.
Story By: Eugenia Ewoenam Osei
