In a bold and unprecedented move to tackle the long-standing issue of poor mobile network services, Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has issued a strict ultimatum to Ghana’s telecom giants—MTN, Telecel, and AT, to significantly improve their service quality by December 31, 2025, or face harsh financial penalties, 40% of which will be paid directly to affected customers.
The ultimatum was delivered during a high-level meeting on Friday, May 30, with chief executives and technical leads of the country’s major mobile operators. The minister pulled no punches, expressing frustration over persistent service lapses, particularly in key urban and regional areas like Amasaman and East Legon, where users have experienced network “blackouts” and poor 4G performance despite infrastructure upgrades.
“We are not doing sentiments. We are doing engineering,” Sam George declared. “If you have infrastructure in place but your service is poor, we must begin to take regulatory action.”
Backed by fresh data from the National Communications Authority (NCA), the minister referenced a recent performance assessment across 48 localities, which revealed troubling inconsistencies in 3G coverage, call setup times, voice call quality, and data throughput across all three major networks.
As part of an aggressive new policy shift, the minister announced that any fines imposed on failing telecom companies will partly go to customers in the form of data or call-time bonuses. A nationwide service quality assessment is set to follow in the third quarter of 2025, covering all district capitals. Based on its results, the government has pledged to take “decisive action” if improvements are not visible.
In the immediate term, mobile network operators have until June 30, 2025, to finalize the acceptance of newly allocated spectrum and must begin its deployment without delay.
“We know you can’t complete upgrades in three months, but we must see that the process has begun. The Ghanaian people must feel the impact of the spectrum rollout by the end of this year,” the minister emphasized.
With this firm stance, the government is signaling a new era of accountability in Ghana’s telecom sector, where poor service will no longer go unpunished, and subscribers can finally expect value for money.
