National Communications Authority (NCA) has warned Kasapa Telecom that due to its inability to meet regulatory licence obligations, there is currently an ongoing process to revoke its Mobile Cellular Licence.
The Mobile Cellular Licence was granted to Kasapa on December 2, 2004 for a period of 15 years and scheduled to expire on December 1, 2019.
According to the Authority, the grounds for this intended action are as follows:
a. Default of payment of annual regulatory fees since 2014,
b. Inability to offer licensed services and coverage obligations since 2014,
c. Engagement in anti-competitive practices by terminating/transiting international traffic as domestic traffic on other networks,
d. Failure to settle fees for usage of microwave frequencies,
e. Inability to meet financial obligations to other Operators in respect of Interconnection payments,
f. Failure to meet financial obligations to Porting XS, the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Service Provider,
g. And finally, a recent switch off of the network without due notice to the Regulator.
The notification, which was served on Kasapa at the end of January 2018, referred the service provider toSection 13 (1) of the Electronics Communications Act (2009), Act 775 which give the NCA the mandate to suspend or revoke a licence or a frequency authorisation.
Since 2014, the Authority, concerned with challenges faced by about Kasapa’s subscribers and other stakeholders within the industry, begun engaging with Kasapa in an effort to get the company to operate and use the allocated national resources efficiently.
This became necessary as Kasapa occupies a vital portion of the spectrum which is being under-utilised and due to which stakeholders are unable to derive broader stakeholder value.These engagements resulted in various promises from Kasapa without any positive outcome.
In addition, Kasapa’s market share kept on dwindling and from April 2017, Kasapa has not been able to submit its subscription figures, with their last submissions being Mobile Voice figures of 23,264 (Market Share of 0.06%) and Mobile Data figures of 10,151 (Market Share of 0.08%).
The NCA, in pursuing on the revocation of Kasapa’s Mobile Cellular Licence, has cautioned the company to ensure it meets its contractual obligations to all its stakeholders, including the NCA, employees and other service providers.
In conclusion, the NCA will continue to streamline the industry to ensure compliance and also guarantee that the good people of Ghana benefit collectively from the scarce national resources.
