The National Communications Authority (NCA) has announced that it has granted additional temporary spectrum at no cost to MTN and Vodafone to improve their service to customers.
The extra 5 Megahertz (MHz) spectrum was made available to the network operators in April 2020 at their request, to ease congestion following a surge in the usage of communication services as a result of COVID – 19.
A statement issued by the NCA explained that in anticipation of a further spike in consumer demand during the election period and Christmas season, the extra spectrum was made available to MTN and Vodafone at no charge from the regulator in order to prevent congestion and keep costs reasonable to consumers.
“This regulatory intervention is part of the mandate of the NCA to continuously strive to ensure that consumers receive good quality service from telecommunications service providers,” the statement said.
According to the NCA, it has taken note of a statement made by the former Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, advising the NCA to allocate the 5MHz Spectrum to network operators to boost their capacity to handle election period demand.
“We thank him and wish to inform him and the general public that, such measure had already been implemented,” the statement said.
The NCA said it is confident that its intervention will improve the network quality and consumer experience in general.
“However, we also encourage consumers to report any service difficulties promptly to their service providers for quick resolution”.
About NCA
The National Communications Authority, (NCA), was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 524 in December 1996, which has been repealed and replaced by the National Communications Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769).
The Authority is the statutory body mandated to license and to regulate electronic communication activities and services in the country
