Ghana’s telecom regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA), says it is stepping up pressure on mobile network operators and infrastructure providers to improve service quality, warning that persistent coverage gaps and dropped calls are eroding public trust in a sector that now supports more than 43 million mobile subscriptions.
The NCA said it will publish operator-by-operator performance data and enforce compliance with quality-of-service benchmarks after a surge in consumer complaints over weak connectivity, particularly outside major urban centres.
Speaking at the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 2026 forum in Accra, NCA Director-General Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko said the gap between reported coverage levels and real-world user experience had become the regulator’s most urgent concern.
“The service Ghanaians pay for must be the service they receive,” Fianko said, adding that quality of service failures now represent “the single biggest threat” to trust in the industry.
The comments came during an event marking both WTISD and the NCA’s 30th anniversary, where the regulator brought together industry stakeholders including telecom operators, internet service providers, broadcasters, submarine cable operators and consumer representatives for a structured review of sector performance.
The NCA boss noted that Ghana’s communications industry had evolved from a limited fixed-line system three decades ago into a mass-market digital ecosystem underpinning commerce, education, healthcare and financial services. He noted that mobile penetration has expanded to more than 100%, reflecting multiple SIM ownership across the population.
Despite that expansion, he pointed to recurring service disruptions, including dropped calls, slow data speeds and inconsistent coverage in peri-urban and rural areas, as evidence that infrastructure growth has not fully translated into service reliability.
Regulatory focus will now shift to enforcement and transparency, he said. The authority plans to publish network performance data and intensify monitoring of operator commitments on capacity expansion, fibre deployment, site development and power reliability upgrades. Operators, he said, have already presented improvement plans and pledged measurable gains beginning in August.
Fianko also placed part of the responsibility on non-industry actors, citing infrastructure damage from road construction, illegal mining activities and poor coordination in public works as contributors to service interruptions. He called for a “dig once” approach to reduce fibre cuts and urged security agencies to treat vandalism of telecom infrastructure as a serious offence.“The network does not belong to operators alone,” he said. “It belongs to all of us.”
Industry stakeholders are expected to present formal assessments of regulatory effectiveness and sector challenges as part of the anniversary programme, alongside policy input from government and international partners, including the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations.
The NCA said improving quality of service will remain its central priority over the coming year, as Ghana’s digital economy becomes increasingly dependent on stable connectivity for financial transactions, remote learning and enterprise operations.
