The National Communications Authority (NCA) has fined MTN Ghana to pay US$1.8 million for delivering poor quality services.
Likewise, it has also fined AirtelTigo, Vodafone and Glo to pay respectively GHS11.6 million, GHS8.9 million, and GHS4.5 million in local currency, and accused all four operators, including MTN, of not committing to the QoS (Quality of Service) standards leading to dropped calls and poor sound quality.
According to a statement released by the NCA, “These punitive measures are intended to encourage the mobile network operators to adhere to the quality of service parameters as set out in their license conditions, which will, in turn, result in an improved service experience for the consumer.”
The latest fine originated in Q1 of 2018 and all operators were given three months to adjust their situation. However, they did not meet the KPI thresholds.
In response, MTN Ghana Chief Executive Officer Selorm Adadevoh said prior to the sanction, the operator held discussions with the regulator that ought to have been considered.
“We don't believe that discussions have advance enough before the fine was imposed,” said Adadevoh. “Hopefully we'll have a meeting in the next few days, maybe weeks to try to understand a little bit better some of the detail behind the actual fine, the value and what goes into it and from there we could have much more concrete position on what this mean for the business.”
Meanwhile the operator has appointed Thomas Motlepa as its new Chief Technical Officer, to be responsible for network management and overseeing the company's tech vision and related strategies.