The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has disclosed that as part of several fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, government is engaging telcos operating in the country to reduce the cost of data.
Reports has shown tha data usage in Ghana has generally increased by due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic but the cost of data in ghana still remains the same.
Following the pandemic, government has closed down all schools and banned public gatherings including religious activities, while several organizations have asked their staff to work from home to observe the social distancing practice to prevent the spread of the virus.
The latest action is the partial lockdown in Tema, Accra, Kasoa and Kumasi, which has forced more people to stay home or work from home.
Addressing Parliament on fiscal measures being taken by government to lessen the pressure of the pandemic on people and businesses, the Finance Minister said “Government is engaging the Telcos to reduce the cost of data and telecommunication services to households and small businesses”.
Meanwhile in our earlier report by Ghanaquest.com, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, is on record to have said reducing the cost of data to boost communication amidst the COVID-19, could increase traffic that will affect internet speed.
As a result, there have been calls for a reduction in the cost of data in Ghana, but speaking on Accra based radio station, Citi FM, MTN Ghana CEO Selorm Adadevoh cautioned that reducing the cost of data will increase traffic and affect internet speed as the current system cannot handle the load.
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“Once you lower prices, invariably the 150 percent growth in capacity will become 300 percent growth in capacity. If we can’t even accommodate 150 percent increase in traffic; then creating a situation where we have to accommodate 300 percent increase in traffic will be a challenge,” he warned.
According to the CEO of MTN Ghana, any attempt to reduce the cost of data in Ghana will be counterproductive, resulting in low productivity.
“All the government workers have gone home and require a network that can allow them to be productive, but will be denied that ability because the network will become very slow, grinding to a halt”
He stated that even though some observers may think a price reduction will be good for consumers in times like this, the overall economic impact will rather be negative.
