Telecom subscribers in Liberia have been expressing frustrations over decision by the two leading GSM companies, Orange Liberia and Lonestar Cell MTN to increase price on voice on-net call and data.
The country’s two leading GSM telecommunication operators, Lonestar Cell MTN and Orange (formerly Cellcom GSM) have been running the three-day ‘free ‘call promotion for over five years now.
The GSM companies’ action is in line with the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) regulation LTA Order: 0016-02-25-19 which took effect on Sunday September 1.
A new regulation will further increase call per minute and data to US$0.0156 and US$0.0218 per megabyte respectively.
Similarly, the price per data has risen more than 50% from US$1.00 per Gigibite to US$ 2.20.
Liberians react
Varney Fahnbulleh, CDC vice Chair for Mobilization, Grand Cape Mount County told Front page Africa that the cancellation of the three-day free call is not timely because it has the propensity to undermine the CDC-led government.
“I am calling on the government and the cellphone companies to go back on the drawing table to see how best the masses can get their three-day free call back”, he adds.
“Things are difficult and most Liberians are depending on the three-day free call. Now $230 Liberian dollars for scratch card and when you buy the scratch card to call for only 45 minutes will be a problem.
For Moibah V. Kiadii, official of the Center for the Exchange of Intellectual Opinion (CEIO), he thinks cancelling the three-day free call will be adding problem on burden. According to him, the economic system is very bad and family members can use the three-days to adequate communicate to their relatives.
Michael Gotomo, head for a newly group organized calling itself “citizens United to bring back our three-day free call” in an interview with local newspaper in Monrovia stated that they will be going to the Liberian Legislature to see how best they can restore the three-day free call.
“With the present economic situation in our country, cancelling the three-day free call will not afford us the chance to talk to our people in the rural areas”, said Gotomo.
The increment in voice call and data come at the time when U$1.00 is equivalent to LRD$ 215.00
Rational behind new price floors
According to the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), telecommunications service users in Liberia enjoy among the lowest prices in West Africa but these low prices come with a high cost for the sustained growth and development of the telecommunications sector and the country.
LTA also pointed out a long running price war between the two GSM mobile operators orange and Lonestar Cell MTN who control nearly one hundred percent of mobile telephone and the data market in Liberia continues to have negative impact on the population in quality service delivery.
It furthered that the implementation of the new tariff will promote efficient and sustainable competition for the benefit of end-users to monitor and prevent abuses of a service provider’s dominant position and to monitor and prevent practices that would limit competition.
The telecommunications regulatory body also opposed that effective competition may be weakened due to “predatory pricing as competitors compete to price each other out of the market”.
Political commentators say cancelling the will three days ‘free call’ will undermines freedom of speech the Weah administration profess to protect.
The government of president Weah has been struggling to raise the needed revenue to pay the overcrowded civil servants in the country.
