Ghana was one of the first countries in Africa to liberalise and deregulate its telecommunications sector and this has resulted in strong competition, reports Research & Markets.
Following the privatisation of Ghana Telecom in 1996 there was very rapid growth in market competition across the mobile and internet sectors, with a number of new players being licensed to offer services.
Ghana Telecom was acquired by the Vodafone Group in 2009 and rebranded as Vodafone Ghana. It is the principal fixed-line provider and also the third largest player in the mobile services sector, after MTN and the recently merged Airtel Tigo.
International submarine cables and new terrestrial cables have improved internet capacity, which in turn has reduced access pricing for end-users. These developments, combined with the rollout of national fibre backbone networks by a number of players, and supported by several government-funded schemes, are continuing to revolutionise the country's broadband market and pave the way for the convergence of technologies and services.
This has been indicated by the regulator's intention to replace 2G licences expiring in 2019 with universal access licences, enabling licensees to offer both fixed and mobile offers. In addition, the launch of LTE services by Vodafone Ghana and the extension of LTE-A services by MTN Ghana during 2019 have greatly improved service quality for end-users. This has been reflected in a number of areas, including the strong m-commerce and m-banking sectors.
