Ken Ashigbey, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, has indicated that his outfit has received several complaints by Ghanaians concerning the high cost of data. He has, thus, pledged to address the issues concerning data affordability and sustainability this year 2022.

The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications Executive Officer disclosed that the Chamber will have further stakeholder consultations in the coming months to discuss the cost of data consumption, and how it could be balanced with the right investments.

“Issues surrounding data affordability and sustainability are expected to be addressed this year for consumers of network operators.”
Ken Ashigbey

According to Dr Ashigbey, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused data usage to go up and as such, needs a corresponding investment to match up.

“There’s the whole conversation on the affordability of telecommunication services and the issue of sustainability. COVID-19 taught us that the consumption of data has really gone up, but to be able to match that demand that we have, requires a lot of investment. So, you need to do a good match between the affordability and the investments that are required for a sustainable industry.”
Ken Ashigbey

Dr Ashigbey averred that there is the need to bring all stakeholders on board to come up with policies that will drive the industry, and be able to provide the best and affordable services for the country.

“To be able to do this, it needs a good balance and contribution from all stakeholders; the need for proper pricing of spectrum, and the need for policies like technology mutuality. In such a way, they can use that to deliver the best service that we require.”
Ken Ashigbey

While projecting for the year 2022, Dr Ashigbey believed that the stakeholders’ consultation will pave way for consumers not to be placed on the losing end concerning data affordability and sustainability.

Data Consumption in Africa to Increase Astronomically

According to an ‘e-Conomy Africa 2020’ report issued by the International Finance Corporation and Google, Africa’s data consumption of the internet is expected to increase by over 300 percent in 2022. This, the report attributed to the coronavirus pandemic which has somewhat forced many activities to take place online. A development which could add about US$180 billion to the continent’s economy in the next five years.

That notwithstanding, data cost continues to be a worry to the Sub Saharan Africa. A research by Cable.co.uk noted that Sub-Saharan Africa still has the most expensive data prices in the world.

The Worldwide Mobile Data Pricing 2021 report from Cable.co.uk, which surveyed some 230 countries on the affordability of data, ranked Nigeria as 43rd behind Ghana (27th), Sudan (fifth globally) and, Libya (30th), Tanzania 32nd and Mauritius (33rd).

This means that, despite the high cost of data in Ghana, the research revealed that Ghana has a more affordable data pricing index than her neighbours, Nigeria.

According to the research, on average, the cost for one gigabyte (GB) of mobile internet in Ghana stood at 0.66 U.S. dollars in 2021. While the cheapest price an individual could pay to obtain 1GB of mobile data in the country was 0.17 U.S. dollars, and the most expensive amount was 3.47 U.S. dollars.

Ghanaians can now hope, given the assurances from Dr Ashigbey, the CEO of Telcos Chamber.