The think tank IMANI has criticized the Ghanaian government’s approach to telecom regulation, highlighting a policy inconsistency where private telecom operators face increasing demands for improved service quality while public infrastructure development lags behind.
This commentary follows Communications Minister Sam George’s recent ultimatum to telecom companies to enhance their service quality or face regulatory sanctions.
In a detailed briefing titled Telecom Accountability and the Digital Economy: Enforcing Service Quality as a Business Imperative, IMANI acknowledges the Minister’s frustration with persistent poor service—call drops, buffering, and unreliable coverage have long frustrated subscribers.
However, the think tank stresses that blaming telcos alone oversimplifies the challenges. Operators are caught between pressure to reduce data prices and rising operational costs exacerbated by inconsistent licensing, unpredictable spectrum policies, and delays in infrastructure rollout.
IMANI points to delays by NextGenInfraco (NGIC), the public agency mandated to accelerate 4G and 5G deployment, as a key example of government underperformance.
Furthermore, the Significant Market Power (SMP) policy introduced to curb MTN’s dominance has failed to empower smaller players or improve competition meaningfully.
IMANI warns that without transparent spectrum allocation, supportive infrastructure development, and reduced regulatory friction, demands on private operators risk repeating cycles of unmet expectations.
The organization urges the government to align public accountability with private-sector realities to build a reliable and future-ready digital economy.
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Telecom Accountability and the Digital Economy: Enforcing Service Quality as a Business Imperative.- IMANI Brief
Communications Minister Sam George has issued an ultimatum to telecom operators to significantly improve service quality or face regulatory sanctions. While the directive was in response to concerns of persistent poor service experienced by subscribers, there are economic and infrastructure issues that must be addressed. At the heart of this directive is a promise: the government will, in return, provide additional spectrum to ease network congestion and support performance improvements.
To be fair, the Minister is not entirely wrong in demanding better service. Consumers are frustrated. Call drops, buffering, and inconsistent coverage plague even the most urbanized areas. But, diagnosing the problem solely as telco neglect oversimplifies the issue and risks repeating cycles. For years, Ghana’s telecom sector has battled with a fundamental disconnect between regulation and operational reality. On the one hand, operators are pressured to lower data prices. On the other hand, they face rising costs from inconsistent licensing regimes, unpredictable spectrum policies, operational costs, and delayed infrastructure rollout.
The current Minister’s announcement that operators have until June 30, 2025, to complete acceptance processes for the newly allocated spectrum is welcome on paper. Spectrum is the lifeblood of mobile connectivity. If priced sensibly and released on time, it could indeed relieve congestion and improve the quality of service. But here lies the deeper challenge: will this be a transparent, affordable process?
Meanwhile, the NextGenInfraco (NGIC) has yet to meet its 5G rollout deadlines. Created as a neutral shared infrastructure provider, NGIC was supposed to accelerate nationwide 4G and 5G deployment while saving costs for operators. Instead, delays have dominated the timeline. Yet the same Ministry is threatening private operators with sanctions for failing to improve service.
Ghana’s Significant Market Power (SMP) policy is another example of policy intentions not matching outcomes. When MTN was designated as an SMP in 2020, the goal was to curb its dominance and give smaller operators like AirtelTigo and Vodafone (now Telecel) a better shot at competing. But the policy fell flat. It introduced restrictions on MTN, such as pricing approvals, but did not provide the smaller players with investment support, spectrum access, or operational flexibility needed to actually scale. Rather than levelling the playing field, it created policy uncertainty and discouraged investment without delivering meaningful competition or better consumer outcomes.
We are now at risk of repeating the same pattern: overregulating without enabling and facilitating.
This mixed messaging, demanding more from private players while delivering less from the public side, is part of a broader policy inconsistency. If service must improve, then so must the government’s accountability. It must reduce regulatory friction, offer spectrum on competitive and clear terms, and ensure infrastructure initiatives like NGIC are not just bureaucratic placeholders but truly scalable and commercially viable platforms. The Minister has stated that telcos offer more value without lowering prices, effectively asking for larger data bundles and service rewards while input costs rise and infrastructure remains weak. Without expanded capacity, value-added services may only worsen existing network congestion.
Ghana’s digital economy depends on reliable, affordable, and future-ready telecom infrastructure. The Minister’s ultimatum to operators may energize headlines, but the real work lies beneath, fixing the policy foundations, restoring investor trust, and aligning public ambition with private-sector reality.
Credit: IMANI’s Criticality Analysis of Key Economic Issues, May 26- May 30, 2005
