The Telecommunications Authority of Liberia (LTA) and Ghana National Communication Authority (NCA) have started discussions that would lead to a free roaming agreement between the two countries.
Details
Once an agreement is reached, the two carriers will implement a process that will charge local rates to mobile phone users in both countries while subscribers visit.
If agreed between the two countries, the roaming arrangement would require commercial solutions from the carriers, allowing for the economic implementation of the agreements under the ECOWAS regulation.
The big picture
In 2017, ECOWAS issued a regulation to control international wholesale and retail roaming markets, calling on states to work out lower termination fees to reduce charges and boost travel, trade and tourism in the region.
Ideally, all 15 ECOWAS states would reduce roaming charges to the same price as their country.
Zoom out
The Telecommunications Authority of Liberia issued an order in 2020 urging the country’s mobile network operators to implement the ECOWAS regulation.
However, activation was very slow. Service providers cite, among many issues, a lack of momentum to initiate bilateral engagements. They said they would also like the LTA to remove the charge on ECOWAS international inbound traffic and curb roaming fraud, which is rampant in some West African countries.
What they say
Deputy Commissioner International Gateway Systems Angela Cassell Bushwho also chairs the LTA leadership in the absence of her colleague, Abdullah Kamara, recognizes the importance of this first step.
“This is great news, discussions underway from Accra, Ghana, with members of the Executive Board of the Telecommunications Authority of Liberiasays Bush.
“We look forward to more engagements. and more discussions with other ECOWAS member countries with a view to working with Liberia on this zero cost roaming. So we are very excited and look forward to more engagement.”
Source: Liberian Observer
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