On 12 March 2024, Vodafone Ghana was officially renamed Telecel Ghana.
Telecel Ghana acquired full control of various operations previously managed by Vodafone, including fixed telephone lines, Internet services, voice and data services, as well as cash transfer and other business services.
The transition followed the acquisition of a 70% majority stake in Vodafone Ghana by the Telecel Group.
But since its official transition, Telecel Ghana has not had smooth sailing to distinguish itself from its predecessor.
Growing customer dissatisfaction on the Internet
Previously, users of the then Vodafone Ghana experienced poor network connectivity and most took to social media to express their displeasure.
But now, even with the official rebrand, these issues persist with customers saying the problems seem to have gotten worse.
Market Share Stagnation
During the public event for Telecel’s rebranding, the Group CEO Mo Damush stated that Telecel will lead the market in Ghana’s telecommunications market following its takeover by Vodafone.
The company has a huge hill to climb to achieve its ambitions. As of 2017, Vodafone/Telecel’s market share in both Voice and Mobile Data has been on a downward trend.
In 2022, Telecel had just 14.15% of the Mobile Data market share and 18.97% of Voice market share in Ghana.
Dispute with ATC Over Payments
Last week, ATC Ghana, the tower company that houses the telecommunications companies’ equipment as well as supplies power to the equipment, issued a public statement stating that Telecel Ghana had defaulted on its payment obligation. The tower company then cut power to Telecel’s network equipment hosted on its towers.
Telecel Ghana denied this and said ATC Ghana’s statement of non-payment was “false”.
The Ministry of Communications and Digitization intervened and following discussions between Telecel and ATC, instructed AT Ghana to re-supply power to Telecel. The NCA will arbitrate the ‘non-payment’ issue between the two companies.
5G to the rescue?
In May 2024 it was announced Next-Gen Infra Co (NGIC) will be operational by the end of this year and will provide 5G broadband services to mobile operators and ISPs in Ghana.
Companies including Telecel Ghana and IN GHANA will make use of a public 5G network infrastructure provided by NGIC.
The Minister of Transport has stated that 5G will be operational by September. With 5G, Telecel may be able to provide additional services to its customers.
But the question is whether it will be enough to satisfy its base, especially given the fact that MTN, the current market leader, could also make use of public 5G infrastructure.
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