MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroun and Nexttel (Viettel) have committed to a cumulative investment of US$252 million in 2023, according to Justine Diffo née Tchunkam, Chair of the Telecommunications Regulatory Board (TRB).
Diffo said the funds will be used to extend network coverage and improve the quality of electronic communication services throughout the national territory.
If you recall, in December 2022, the three MNOs (under the Cameroon Association of Telephone Mobile Operators (CATMO) and Camtel reached a multi-party framework agreement to improve the quality of electronic communication services and network performance.
BMA understands that the MNOs have committed to deploying new infrastructure to handle the growing number of subscribers and agreed to align their services with the ITU’s E-800 recommendation.
MTN Cameroon CEO and incumbent chair of CATMO Mitwa Ng’ambi said, “I think what our consumers should be expecting should be an improvement in the future as we look to find lasting solutions to the challenges that are impacting the quality of services today.”
CATMO said they had registered at least 1,800 optic fibre cuts and 1,000 power cuts in 2022 alone, over twice the figure recorded in 2021, seriously affecting the quality of service delivered.
Also commenting, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng said the TRB needs more requisite equipment to assess the quality of services, making it difficult to evaluate the responsibility of operators acting in bad faith.
She added that the regulator now has the tools for effective monitoring, and it will be in the best interest of operators to maintain good quality services.
Likeng said, “As from 2023, we will publish the quality of service of each operator, their applicable prices, and users will be able to choose the operator which best responds to their needs.”
