The Equatorial Guinea government and operators have signed an agreement to slash telecom tariff prices by 50% on May 1, as the government looks to permanently reduce sky-high prices in the country.
Equatorial Guinea is widely known for having the highest prices for connectivity globally. A 2021 study from Cable.co.uk found that 1GB of data in Equatorial Guinea cost around US$46.97.
The nation’s vice president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue stressed the discount is temporary and will continue as a permanent structure to pricing is agreed upon, reported Ecofin Agency.
Operators that do not comply with the slashing of prices will lose their telecom licenses, warned Mangue.
The decision is a result of a preliminary agreement signed by the government, telecoms regulator Organo Regulador de las Telecomunicaciones (ORTEL) and state-owned infrastructure firm Gestor de Infraestructuras de Guinea Ecuatorial (GITGE) and the operators.
Equatorial Guinea has three mobile network operators in state-owned Guinea Ecuatorial de Telecomunicaciones Sociedad Anonima (Getesa), GreenCom (Muni) and GECOMSA.
