Competition Is Good

by Public Agenda
2006-04-20 00:00:00 | Viewed 1768 times

Who says competition is not good? Just imagine how the country’s mobile phone providers, Areeba, Mobitel, Ghana Telecom and Kasapa are now engaged in a price war to retain their customers or win new ones.

It has taken an extraordinarily long time to get this far, when in the late 80s and 90s it was only Mobitel that provided the mobile phone facility, which only the rich could afford. With Areeba coming aboard, the pricing of mobile phone services out of the reach of many people continued. Think of this. Just two years ago, One Touch chips were going for 1.2 million cedis. One needed a letter of introduction and prayers to be able to secure a One Touch chip. Today all one needs is 30,000 cedis to buy a One Touch chip by the roadside.

All four mobile providers are now engaged in one of the fiercest advertising competitions, only second to that of Guinness Ghana Brewery Ltd and Accra Brewery Ltd. The competition only bodes something good for both country and population. Who would have thought that mobile service providers would provide free airtime for their customers?

In a country where the consumer has been reduced to taking anything on offer, without complaining, mobile phone users at last, have some choices to make, thanks to competition. In the last few weeks and months a lot of people have either changed their chips or are using two chips from two service providers, with the ultimate aim of dumping one with time. This has put the four service providers on their toes, knowing well that, they would lose their customers if they continue to provide poor services or charge arbitrary prices. At last, the customer has become the king in Ghana, at least for now.

A lot has been said about Ghana’s potential in mobile phone technology in Africa. Some analysts have even predicted Ghana to over take some western countries in mobile phone technology. What is required now is the creation of a ‘fair competitions body’ to ensure fair competition among the companies and to protect customers against unfair unit pricing. There is plenty more to be done if the country is to harness the full potential of mobile phone technology. This calls for licensing more companies to provide mobiles phone services, if mobile phone technology is to become a tool for economic development.

This is an editorial published by Public Agenda (a Ghanaian newspaper), on October 21st, 2005.

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