Improve services by December or face sanctions – Sam George warns telcos
By: Ernest Afram
Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has given Ghana’s mobile network operators until December 31, 2025, to improve service quality or face financial penalties.
He made the announcement at a high-level stakeholder meeting on Friday, May 30, 2025, with the chief executive officers and technical teams of the three major telecom operators—MTN, Telecel, and AirtelTigo.
The meeting, convened at the Ministry in Accra, was also attended by officials from the National Communications Authority (NCA).
The Minister, who also serves as the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, criticized the telecom companies for ongoing poor service delivery despite years of infrastructure investments and spectrum allocations. He stressed that the time for excuses had passed and regulatory action was now on the table.
“We are not doing sentiments; we are doing engineering. If you have infrastructure in place but your service is poor, we must begin to take regulatory action,” he said.
A presentation by the NCA revealed troubling inconsistencies in telecom service quality across the country. The authority had conducted a technical performance assessment in 48 selected locations following increasing public complaints. The study evaluated four key performance indicators: 3G coverage, call setup time (CST), mean opinion score (MOS) for call clarity, and 3G data throughput. All three operators were found to be underperforming in various areas.
The Minister highlighted specific problem zones, including Amasaman and East Legon, where users experience frequent call drops, poor data speeds, and even complete network blackouts, despite the presence of infrastructure.
“Ghanaians deserve better. We cannot have major parts of the capital city virtually cut off because of poor network services. This must change, and it must change now,” he said.
In a major policy shift aimed at prioritizing consumer interests, Sam George announced that 40 percent of any fines imposed on telecom companies for failing to meet quality standards will be returned directly to affected customers, most likely in the form of free data or call credits.
He also revealed that the government has set June 30, 2025, as the deadline for operators to complete the acceptance process for recently allocated spectrum frequencies. Once this is done, the companies are expected to begin deploying the new spectrum immediately.
“We know full upgrades may take time, but there must be visible signs of improvement by the end of the year. The Ghanaian people must feel the impact,” the Minister added.
The Ministry, in collaboration with the NCA, will also carry out a nationwide service quality test covering all district capitals during the third quarter of the year. The results of this broader assessment will guide government action going forward. The Ministry has assured the public that it will continue to monitor developments closely and will not hesitate to apply sanctions if the December deadline is not met.
