Sam George: “Mobile data prices should drop, giving users more value.”

The government’s plan to lower mobile data rates has been laid out by Communication Minister Sam Nartey George, who cited earlier unsuccessful attempts because of difficulties implementing the legislation.

He underlined in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that although certain reports indicate that Ghana’s data tariffs are reasonably priced when compared to other African nations, many Ghanaians find it difficult to balance expenses against income.

Many people find it difficult to consistently access the internet because the average cost of 1GB of mobile data (about GHS17 or $1.37) is almost equal to the daily minimum wage (GHS19.97 or $1.61).

Though he emphasised that the Ministry would not act on sentiment but rather adhere to the guidelines established by the 23-member Inter-Agency Data Pricing Committee, the Minister gave Ghanaians the assurance that mobile data costs would be changed in the upcoming months.

After 14 days of discussion, the group created a roadmap, which he is currently implementing, he said.

In order to ensure that alternative networks are strong before pricing changes impact dominant providers, Mr. George stressed the importance of carefully implementing policies.

“Will network B provide me with the level of service I desire if you want me to switch from network A because you’ve increased their prices?” He enquired.

He emphasised that in order to guarantee uniform service quality among providers, all networks must have concurrent investment responsibilities.

Price, quality, and value are given top priority in the Ministry’s goal to lower mobile data costs.
When we talk about value, Mr. George said, “I mean, if you were getting, say, 100 gig for a certain price today, value would mean that you could get more than 100 gig at the same price.”

He confirmed that more megabytes would soon be available to Ghanaians at a lower cost than what telecom firms are now charging.

The Ministry’s focus on “hard-core data and evidence” rather than sentiment has been reinforced by the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) dispatch of a team to Ghana for an impartial evaluation.
Future pricing strategies will be informed by the evaluation, which will make sure that data affordability is in line with economic reality.