Not for the first time, officials in Mauritania have targeted mobile operators for alleged failure to provide a service of acceptable quality.
This week has seen the Mauritanian Ministry of Digital Transformation and Modernisation of Administration insist that telecom operators improve the quality of their services by 22 September – a little over two weeks from now – or face substantial financial and administrative penalties.
The notice sent out by the ministry suggests that sanctions could include limiting licence periods and imposing large fines. A reduction of up to three months in the duration of existing licenses has been suggested, along with fines of up to MUR530 million (US$11.4 million). The main players in this market are Chinguitel, Mattel and Moov Mauritel.
The North Africa Post news service says the decision follows an inspection by the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) conducted from 1 August to 7 September 2023, which, as we reported at the time, revealed a significant drop in service quality from several companies across various regions.
The ministry noted that the NRA had previously issued warnings, requiring operators to meet quality standards within 30 days. The shortcomings were out down to insufficient investment by telecom companies in service improvements.
The country’s Prime Minister has also got involved. At the recent Council of Ministers, Mokhtar Ould Diay allegedly expressed his indignation at the current state of telecommunications services in Mauritania and stressed the urgency of taking measures to remedy this situation.
Big fines were also imposed twice on operators in 2020 for bad QoS.
