The Parliamentary Select Committee On Information And Communications has conducted a monitoring visit to the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation on seeking to understand the Ministry’s policy direction and scrutinize key telecom industry issues.
The oversight visit, aimed at familiarizing the committee with the operations of the Ministry and its agencies, covered a range of pressing topics, including service quality, telecom accessibility, and legislative matters.
The sector Minister, Samuel Nartey George in his remarks noted behind closed doors, a wide range of issues had been dealt with which includes service
quality and service availability.
He added that the committee also closely examined the proposed merger of Telecel and Airtel Tigo , as well as the legislative review concerning Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) infrastructure.
”The Ministry’s current work indicates consumers are receiving “value for data.”
The Minister also highlighted on a recent multi-stakeholder engagement with Multichoice Ghana and it’s partners for the price reduction of DSTV subscriptions in the country stating that has been settled.
Sam George emphasized that the National Communications Authority (NCA) maintains a special consumer protection unit to handle complaints, intimating that “Few complaints emanating from social media have been thoroughly investigated.
The Chairman of the Committe, Hon. Bandim Lamangin Abed-Nego, for his part affirmed that the visit was essential to understand the policy direction of the agencies within their purview.
He emphasized the committee’s concern over persistent complaints from constituents regarding the poor quality of telecom services and the “fast depletion of credit” for consumers.
The Chairman however urged the Ministry to urgently address these issues. He stated over four million Ghanaians are still not able to access telecom services across the nation which he added is still a major accessibility gap.
