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Mr Joe Anokye
Mr Joe Anokye

Consumers have right to quality telecoms services

The issue about the poor quality of services rendered to customers by mobile telephony companies in the country still rages.

This is in spite of the persistent complaints made by customers of the telcos to the effect that they do not get value for money from the operators.

In some instances, the industry regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), has been forced to sanction some of the operators in its quest to ensure that they comply with the licence requirements.

Due to the lack of progress made in that direction, the observation of this year’s Consumer Rights Day yesterday was used to call on mobile network subscribers to demand quality services from telecommunication service providers.

As part of the observation, the NCA organised a roadshow in Accra to educate the public on their rights and responsibilities as subscribers of telecommunication services.

It stated that subscribers of mobile networks needed to be empowered with telecom service rights to enable them to make informed decisions and also demand quality service.

The NCA, however, expressed regret that while consumers had the right to request information on bills or opt out of unsolicited electronic messages, subscribers were not exercising their rights.
The Daily Graphic commends the NCA for its efforts to educate the public on their rights as far as the use of telecom services is concerned.

However, we believe that it is the responsibility of the authority to ensure that the service providers strictly adhere to the licence conditions by providing services that meet the laid down standards.

There is no excuse for the industry regulator to allow the telecom companies to have their way while the users of their services suffer.

We are aware that many customers are fed up with reporting their frustrations to the right authorities because nothing practical is done to solve the age-old problems.

There have been many instances when the NCA has kept the money it receives after fining the telcos for breaches in service quality when the customers who suffered the poor services are left to their fate.

We also know about situations where the authority compels the defaulting telcos to compensate their customers after they have been caught providing poor services, but in the end, nothing meaningful is done to soothe the pain or loss of customers.

The Daily Graphic finds it regrettable that all the players in the mobile telephony space in the country are multinationals who will not render such abysmal services to their customers in their respective countries of origin.

With a mobile penetration rate of about 132 per cent in the country, one of the highest on the continent, it is completely unacceptable for the telcos to treat their customers with disdain.

As we celebrate the eventful day, it is our hope that the NCA will not only educate telecom consumers about their rights but go a step further to severely sanction the telcos for any infractions in their service quality.

There should be no more excuses for such lopsided service because the service rendered is not cheap.

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