Ghana’s mobile phone penetration rate rose to 127.63 per cent after the country’s voice subscriber base climbed to over 35 million in December 2015 from 34 million registered in the previous month.
The increase is far above earlier projections that the West African country’s mobile penetration would hover around 70 percent by the close of last year reports the Africa Report.
the congestion is just too much and internet data access is usually unnecessarily too slow
According to latest figures released by Ghana’s telecommunications regulator – the National Communications Authority – mobile subscriber base surged from 34,400,153 in November 2015 to 35,008,387, representing a mobile voice penetration rate of 127.63 per cent.
The NCA’s mobile voice and mobile data market share trends for December 2015 also reported the number of mobile data subscribers rose from about 17.73 million to 18.03 million, an access rate of 65.74 percent.
The main catalysts for the rise in the number of people with access to mobile phones and internet usage has been attributed to the recent push for telecommunication companies to expand their network coverage, the availability of cheap smart phones from China and robust legal regime.
Mobile technology is seen as a game changer and lifeline for the West African nation, with both urban and rural youth embracing the new technology for their banking and other telephony services.
Ghana’s telecom players are said to operate against a backdrop of high cost and operational pressures, but they benefit from the support of a tough regulatory framework and a loose market.
Infrastructural roll-outs have been extensive and most recently 4G technologies were introduced to the country. However, mobile phone customers continue to call for better services.
“We’ve been denied better and quality services for long, the NCA must work to ensure that Ghanaians get quality services, the congestion is just too much and internet data access is usually unnecessarily too slow,” a college tutor, Kwame Duut shared with the African Report.
