Ghana to reduce MTN's telecoms market share

Ghana will implement a set of policies to reduce the dominance of MTN in the country’s telecommunications market, the government has said in a statement.

“The National Communications Authority (NCA) will in the coming days begin the implementation of specific policies to ensure a level-playing field for all network operators within the telecommunications industry,” a statement on Saturday said.

MTN has been declared a significant market power, requiring the regulator to take corrective action to allow more market competition. Statistics from the NCA showed MTN’s share in mobile data subscriptions accounted for almost 70% of the market from January to March.

To correct this, the regulator will implement a series of measures including a favourable connection rate for disadvantaged operators, the setting of floor and ceiling pricing on all minutes, data, text messages and mobile money, and ensure the various operator vendors are not subject to exclusionary pricing or behaviour.

MTN Ghana said in a statement released on Monday it had not yet received the formal notification from the regulator and was awaiting it to assess the details.