Telcos announce increment following newly introduced taxes
COVID-19 pandemic increases online activity, demand for data
Issues surrounding data affordability and sustainability are expected to be addressed this year for consumers of network operators, the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has assured.
To mitigate this, Chief Executive of the Chamber, Ken Ashigbey, has urged for further stakeholder consultations in the coming months to discuss the cost of data consumption and how it could be balanced with the right investments.
While projecting for the year 2022, Ashigbey believes this will pave the way for consumers not to be placed on the losing end concerning data affordability and sustainability.
“There’s the whole conversation on the affordability of telecommunication services and the issue of sustainability. COVID has taught us that the consumption of data has really gone up but to be able to match that demand that we have, requires a lot of investment. So, you need to do a good match between the affordability and the investments that are required for a sustainable industry," he noted as quoted by Citi Business.
“To be able to do this, it needs a good balance and contribution from all stakeholders; the need for proper pricing of spectrum, and the need for policies like technology mutuality in such a way that the spectrum that all the MNOs have, they can use that to deliver the best service that we require,” he added.
According to an ‘e-Conomy Africa 2020’ report issued by the International Finance Corporation and Google, Africa’s data consumption of the internet is expected to increase by over 300 percent every month.
This, the report attributed to the coronavirus pandemic which has somewhat forced many activities to take place online – a development which could add about US$180 billion to the continent’s economy in the next five years. Read Full Story
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