Directive to review data prices came from NCA – MTN
Telecommunications giant MTN, has indicated that the upward review of their data prices is a directive from the National Communications Authority (NCA).
In an interaction with journalists on Thursday, General Manager, Regulator and Government Affairs at MTN, Samuel Bartels explained that the increase in data charges will help increase market competitiveness.
“When you rationalize your prices as we have done around what others are charging so that it’s at par at what others are charging, it obviously has the effect of making the market more competitive.
“When you are the bigger operator in any given market and your pricing is such that it is perceived as hard to compete with by others although there’s a logic behind your pricing, it is often seen no giving others the opportunity to pry some of the market from you or have a fair crack at enticing customers.”
Mr Sammy Bartels furthered that, “This is in line with the spirit of the regulators general direction of making the market more competitive.
“It gives the customer enough choices. It’s not necessarily price that becomes the differentiator but the quality of service you’re receiving from a particular operator that will determine who you’ll go with.”
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MTN Ghana announced a review of its data prices for its Fixed Broadband services (Fibre Broadband and TurboNet) users effective January 4, 2022.
This has been necessitated by the need to align with market rates. In this regard, customers will enjoy 50% bonus for the first 3 months (January – March 2022) on every data purchase and 25% on the next 3 months (April -June 2022) purchases.
Unused data after 90-day expiry can also be rolled over on purchase within three days after the date of expiry.
Customers’ existing data will not be affected by this change, any new data purchased will be added to the accumulated data, the company announced on their official website.