Ghana - Telecoms Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations - Statistics and Analyses

Synopsis

Ghana was one of the first countries in Africa to liberalise and deregulate its telecommunications sector. Following the privatisation of Ghana Telecom in 1996 there was very rapid growth in market competition across the mobile and internet sectors, with a number of new players being licensed to offer services. Ghana Telecom was acquired by the Vodafone Group in 2009 and rebranded as Vodafone Ghana. It is the principal fixed-line provider and also the third largest player in the mobile services sector, after MTN and the recently merged AirtelTigo.

International submarine cables and new terrestrial cables have improved internet capacity, which in turn has reduced access pricing for end-users. These developments, combined with the roll out of national fibre backbone networks by a number of players, and supported by several government-funded schemes, are continuing to revolutionise the country’s broadband market and pave the way for the convergence of technologies and services. This has been indicated by the regulator’s intention to replace 2G licences expiring in 2019 with universal access licences, enabling licensees to offer both fixed and mobile offers. In addition, the launch of LTE services by Vodafone Ghana and the extension of LTE-A services by MTN Ghana during 2019 have greatly improved service quality for end-users. This has been reflected in a number of areas, including the strong m-commerce and m-banking sectors.

Key developments:

• Eastern Corridor project completed;
• Government planning launch of the Ghanasat 1 satellite in 2020;
• Ghana Investment Fund sets out national telecom coverage goals;
• Report update includes the regulator’s market data to September 2018, telcos’ operating data to Q4 2018, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Vodafone Ghana, Telkom Malaysia, Telenor, Bharti Airtel (Zain/Celtel, Westel), Capital Telecom, Globacom, Main One, VoltaCom, Phase3 Telecom, Suburban Telecom.

Table of Contents

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