Following a spirited campaign on social media against rising mobile data prices in Ghana, the National Communications Authority (NCA) has started consultations with various stakeholder groups on how to address the issue and ensure consumer interest is protected in both the short and long term.
Director-General of NCA, Dr. Joe Anokye announced this in a exclusive interview with Omaru Sanda on Citi Eyewitness News.
For more than a week now, there have been agitations on social media against rising data prices in Ghana, particularly on MTN Ghana. The immediate trigger of the agitations was a report put out by cable.co.uk claiming that Ghana has the second lowest data prices in West Africa (behind only Nigeria) and the third lowest in Africa (behind Malawi and Nigeria).
The report placed the average price for 1GB of data in Ghana at US$0.40, which is about GHS6.2. But the critics claim that cannot be true because when you strike the average of data prices using the cost of 1GB on each of the three telcos, it comes to GHS12.3, which is about US$0.79 and not US$0.40.
Campaigners have blamed the NCA for the rising data prices because NCA named MTN a significant market power (SMP) in June 2020, and has since directed MTN not to have the lowest prices on the market. They are therefore calling for the NCA Board to be dissolved.
But Dr. Anokye explained that, under the current deregulated regime in the telecom sector, the NCA does not set prices for the telcos, but only reviews and approves prices submitted by each telcos, adding that since November 2023, no telco has submitted any new prices for review.
He however noted that currently, there is a grave market imbalance in the telecoms sector, where MTN Ghana now controls over 80% of the mobile data market, and that threatens to collapse other telcos and slide the market into a monopoly. So, by law, the regulator has a duty to regulate MTN in a way to prevent the collapse of other players.
Dr. Anokye said it was for the reason of protecting the market from collapsing, and also securing consumers’ right to choice that MTN was named an SMP, to make room for them to be regulated to prevent a monopoly.
He however noted that a careful review of data prices by the billing department of NCA shows that data prices on MTN has always been between that of Telecel and AT Ghana, and not necessarily the highest on the market.
According to him, in naming MTN SMP to make room for them to be regulated, the NCA is looking at the long-term protection of the market and consumers right to choice, as opposed to the current agitations against rising data prices are coming from a short-term discomfort.
Dr. Anokye however stated that the NCA has started a consultation process to take all opinions on board on how to ensure that the market is prevented from sliding into a monopoly, while also reducing the burden of rising data prices on Ghanaians.
Asked if NCA is not to blame for sitting by and watching MTN to grow over the decades to the point of now commanding over 80% of the data market, he said growth is a function of investment and not regulation, explaining that MTN had over the years kept investing while the other players sat by.
So we are not saying MTN did anything wrong by growing, but by law NCA has a duty to ensure fair competition in a manner that prevents a monopoly and that is just what we are doing as a regulator for the long-term interest of the consumer,” he said.
Other measures NCA has put in place, with respect to ensuring fair competition, in the face of an SMP, are the asymmetrical interconnect rate, national roaming and technology neutrality among other things.
Asymmetrical Interconnect rate
Asymmetrical interconnect rate helps the non-SMP telcos to save 30% of whatever money they pay to MTN monthly for terminating traffic on MTN. It is estimated that about 70% of all calls and even SMS terminate on MTN. So, when the interconnect traffic and its related fees are reconciled at the end of every month, MTN is a perpetual net winner across board. The NCA therefore had to step in and save the others some money just to keep them in business. NCA reported that in the first three years the asymmetrical interconnect rate intervention saved the non-SMP telcos some GHS86.6 million. This is not much compared to how much MTN invested in its network over that period, but it is a good start.
National roaming and Tech Neutrality
Again, as part of the corrective measure, the NCA has facilitated a national roaming policy between MTN and the two other players. This means customers of a network which has no or poor connectivity in a particularly community can get service from another network (MTN), which has better connectivity in that community, then MTN and the respective telco will share the revenue generated from that process.
Closely related to that is a technology neutrality policy. The most obvious manifestation of that policy is the recent award of a license to a special purpose vehicle called Next-Generation Infrastructure Company (NGIC) to establish a shared 4G and 5G infrastructure for all industry players to buy into.
Dr. Anokye explained that the licensing of NGIC means the playing field for the deployment of advanced technology (4G and 5G) will be levelled to enable all players make huge savings on what they would have spent to roll out infrastructure for 4G and 5G, and thereby be able to offer even more affordable services in the long-term.
He said NGIC is expected to roll out the first set of 4G and 5G network infrastructure by the last quarter of the year to enable all telcos and other service providers get access to nationwide 4G and 5G coverage.