Ghana’s communications regulator has warned telecom operators they will face strict enforcement if they fail to meet service quality commitments, as public complaints over poor network performance continue to mount.
The Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, delivered the warning while addressing stakeholders, describing quality of service and coverage as the sector’s most pressing challenge. He pointed to dropped calls, slow data speeds and patchy coverage beyond major urban centres as the complaints most frequently lodged with the regulator.
“The service Ghanaians pay for must be the service they receive,” Fianko stated, signalling a markedly more assertive regulatory posture from the Authority.
Fianko acknowledged that Ghana has achieved between 95% and 99% network coverage nationally but stressed that coverage figures alone do not reflect the reality experienced by users. In peri-urban and rural communities especially, he said, accessibility has not translated into reliable or usable service.
To address this, the NCA has tightened its quality of service benchmarks and will shortly publish performance data enabling consumers to compare how each operator is meeting its obligations. The Authority is also preparing a nationwide consumer education campaign to help users understand service standards and exercise accountability.
Mobile network operators (MNOs), Fianko revealed, have already submitted detailed improvement plans identifying root causes of declining service quality. These submissions outline proposed solutions including investments in capacity expansion, new site deployment, transmission upgrades, power reliability improvements and the rollout of advanced technologies. The NCA has reviewed the plans and considers them credible, but the focus now shifts firmly to implementation.
“We will hold them to their plans,” he affirmed.
Fianko underscored that as Ghana’s digital economy expands, improving service quality has moved beyond an aspiration to an operational necessity for sustaining trust, enabling innovation and delivering inclusive connectivity to every Ghanaian.
