Policies on telecoms must be investor friendly – Telecoms Chamber
The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has called for policies that will motivate players in the industry to invest heavily in infrastructure in readiness for the ‘explosive demand’ for their services in the near future.
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According to the chamber, with the rapid demand for smart phones around the world and in Ghana, there will be an increase in the demand for data services, hence the need for operators to invest heavily to expand infrastructure.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, Mr Kweku Sakyi-Addo, made the call at a forum under the auspices of eTV Ghana on the theme; “The impact of mobile handsets and communications service tax on consumers”.
“We find ourselves in a situation where polices being introduced in the country are becoming a disincentive for investment rather than an incentive to encourage that”, Mr Sakyi-Addo said.
His call comes in the wake of the amendments done to the Communications Services Tax Law which the telcos claim is draining too much funds from them in the form of taxes and, therefore, impacting negatively on their ability to invest in infrastructure expansion.
Mr Sakyi-Addo said many of the telcos in the country were not making profit as many people perceived as such, a further stretch on their business could make the country unattractive for them to continue investing.
He said “the money the telecos bring to the country are not for them but for shareholders in their countries and elsewhere”.
Mr Sakyi-Addo said these investors allowed their companies to invest in the country because they were of the view that they could make the right returns on their investment but the situation seemed to have changed.
Since the passage of the amended law, the government has come under some fire as it is deemed to have found the telcos an easy target to ‘milk’ at a time when it is in financial distress.
Analysts have argued that the more the government continue to tax the telcos, the more the sector players are deprived of funds to improve infrastructure to positively impact on the quality of service they provide.
Clarity on CST
Mr Sakiy-Addo said the chamber had asked for clarification on how taxes were to be charged. from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
He said the issues were not clear because the law did not define the details and noted that “that is why we will approach the GRA to clarify”.
Mr Sakyi-Addo said the chamber was preparing a formal paper to the GRA which should be ready by the close of the week.
Meanwhile, Mr Kofi Kapito, the Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer Protection Agency, for his part, urged the telcos to provide their customers with the services they deserved to enable them to have value for money.
He maintained that the telcos had a responsibility to invest to improve their quality of service and desist from making excuses.
Mr Kapito also used the occasion to urge the various assemblies to come up with a uniform charge for telcos that wish to mount cell sites within their areas.
He also urged them to ensure that the delay of granting permits to the telcos were avoided to help them do what was necessary to improve their services.