Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), has urged telecommunications companies to make strategic investments to remain competitive following the Significant Market Power (SMP) classification.
Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, March 9, Ing. Fianko emphasised that telcos need to invest to take advantage of market remedies and opportunities.
He highlighted a metric introduced by the NCA for interconnection, which gives telcos a 30% discount when calls originate from their network to the SMP-designated network.
“It’s up to the others [telcos] to make relevant investments so that they can also compete and take advantage of some of the remedies. We have also put in place a metric for interconnection.
“So that if a call originates from a network to the SMP network, they get 30% discount, which is supposed to help them,” he said.
Citing MTN’s SMP classification, Ing. Fianko said the company has grown stronger due to investments made over the years.
“They have gotten stronger. Because the metrics have worked to the extent that, but for them [MTN], it would have been a total collapse of competition in the market,” he said.
Using an analogy, he explained, “How I want to explain SMP is that somebody has been going to the gym and building muscles when others were not doing the same. And now you see that they have the capacity. If they want to bully others, they can do it, but it doesn’t mean that they’re doing it.”
He added that the measures in place are designed to help other telcos thrive without collapsing.
“So, you are putting in measures to allow the others to thrive without collapsing. Because this guy [MTN] has the capacity if they so choose. The measures allow the others to thrive because this company has the capacity if they so choose,” he said.
Ing. Fianko said the NCA continues to monitor the telecom sector to ensure a fair and competitive market environment.
