Disruption of communications in Cameroon: Government expects solutions from telecom regulator

 

Internet connection cuts and communication disruptions in general were on the agenda of the Board of Directors of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART), held on 14 and December in Yaounde.

At the end of the work, "the Director General was asked to organize in-depth consultations with operators to the effect of making proposals to the government on the state of electronic communications networks open to the public, heavily affected by the multiple cuts in fiber optics and electricity that have a clear impact on the quality of service offered to users of electronic communications services," said the final statement.

The regulator's recommendation comes at a time when consumers are increasingly complaining about the poor quality of telephone calls and the almost regular disruptions to the Internet connection. Including in the transfer by Mobile Money. But very often, operators cite all kinds of reasons to justify this situation.

Indeed, during an exchange with Cameroonian employers last August in Douala, telecom operators decried the fact that regulation, led in particular by the ART, does not stimulate the explosion of private initiatives. In this regard, these operators stressed that regulatory actions are more oriented towards containers (telephone operators, Internet service providers ...) to the detriment of other players operating in the content segment and cyber space.

The telecom operators also raised the problem of accessibility to mobile services by alternative operators; optical fiber which presents a huge gap between the installed capacities and those used; not to mention the insufficient availability in quality and quantity of bandwidth as well as its high access cost.

Source: Invesraucameroon