Business News of Friday, 9 March 2018
Source: classfmonline.com
2018-03-09
Kasapa’s licence is being terminated for failing to pay annual regulatory fees since 2014
Kasapa Telecom Limited has been formally notified by the National Communications Authority (NCA) of the intention to terminate Kasapa’s Mobile Cellular Licence following its inability to meet its regulatory and licence obligations.
The Mobile Cellular Licence was granted to Kasapa on 2nd December, 2004 for a period of 15 years and scheduled to expire on 1st December, 2019.
According to the Authority, the grounds for this intended action include the following:
1.Default of payment of annual regulatory fees since 2014
2. Inability to offer licensed services and coverage obligations since 2014
3. Engagement in anti-competitive practices by terminating/transiting international traffic as domestic traffic on other networks
4. Failure to settle fees for usage of microwave frequencies
5. Inability to meet financial obligations to other Operators in respect of Interconnection payments
6. Failure to meet financial obligations to Porting XS, the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Service Provider
7. 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 to Section 13 (1) of the Electronics Communications Act (2009), Act 775 which gives 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.