Ghana’s telecommunications regulator has opened a public consultation on plans to replace operator-negotiated national roaming charges with a regulator-determined pricing framework, in a move that could significantly reshape competitive dynamics in the country’s mobile market.
The National Communications Authority (NCA) launched the consultation on Wednesday, March 12, 2026, inviting licensees, service providers and industry stakeholders to submit views on a proposed framework to establish benchmark wholesale ceiling rates for national roaming services. Submissions are open for four weeks, with responses due by April 3, 2026, and must be sent electronically to [email protected].
National roaming allows subscribers of one mobile operator to use a rival network’s infrastructure in areas where their own provider has not yet deployed coverage. The service has been available in Ghana since 2022 through bilateral commercial agreements between operators. However, the NCA said concerns have emerged about variations in the charges operators impose on each other under those agreements and the potential knock-on effect on retail competition and consumer prices.
Under the proposed framework, the regulator has put forward the following reference wholesale ceiling rates: GH¢0.0053 per minute for voice calls, GH¢0.00003 per Short Message Service (SMS), GH¢0.0032 per megabyte of data usage, and GH¢0.00003 per Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) session.
The NCA said the proposed benchmarks were derived from an analytical review of prevailing retail tariffs charged by the market-dominant operator, existing wholesale roaming rates contained in bilateral agreements, and an assessment of the relationship between retail and wholesale prices to prevent what regulators call a margin squeeze, a situation where wholesale charges are so high they make it commercially impossible for smaller operators to offer competitive retail prices.
The consultation is linked to remedies the NCA introduced after designating MTN Ghana as holding Significant Market Power (SMP) in the country’s mobile telecommunications market in 2020. Fixing wholesale roaming rates is one of the tools available to regulators to limit the commercial advantage a dominant operator can exercise over smaller competitors.
The move also fits into a broader regulatory agenda. When the NCA recently outlined the licensing framework for Ghana’s fifth-generation (5G) network rollout, it included a mandatory national roaming obligation requiring all 5G licensees to provide connectivity to each other’s customers on equal terms and at equal prices. A regulated wholesale pricing framework for existing 4G roaming services would establish a precedent and institutional mechanism consistent with that obligation.
Stakeholders are being asked to comment on both the proposed price levels and the methodology used to calculate them. The NCA said input from the consultation may result in revisions before final regulatory guidelines are issued. The authority oversees Ghana’s communications sector under the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775).
