The National Communications Authority (NCA) is to introduce a compensation scheme for mobile phone and broadband subscribers who lose service because of network faults beyond their control.
The Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, announced the plan at a press briefing in Accra in Monday (September 7, 2026).
He said the scheme would provide relief to subscribers who lose service because of faults for which they are not responsible.
Mr George, who is also the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram,the measures were to address challenges in the telecommunications sector.
He said he had tasked the NCA to prepare guidelines for compensating customers and imposing sanctions on telecommunication operators when they failed to meet the required standards.
“I've tasked the regulator with preparing a framework for customer remediation and sanctions where operators fall short, to ensure that customers are given some benefit when they lose service,” Mr George said at the press briefing dubbed "Government Accountability Series".
The minister said the proposed scheme formed part of a number of measures the ministry intended to implement before the end of the year.
Fibre cuts
The announcement follows growing concerns over fibre cuts and network outages across the country.
Mr George said Ghana has recorded over 8000 fibre cuts this year, with almost 4,300 recorded by the end of June.
He said the cost of repairing the damage had exceeded US$20 million, with road construction, particularly under the government’s Big Push programme, accounting for about half of the cuts.
Illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, as well as private and estate developers, accounted for the rest, he said.
Mr George cited a number of incidents to illustrate the extent of the disruptions.
They included a 17-hour outage along the Winneba-Mankessim road, a 19-hour outage across the Ho-Ziope area and a nine-hour outage between Hwediem and Goaso.
He said the outages were caused by fibre cables being damaged during road excavation works.
Power supply
Mr George said instability in the national power grid had also worsened the situation.
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He cited the Akosombo fire incident, which he said knocked out close to 60 per cent of the national grid’s capacity.
He also referred to the floods in parts of Greater Accra, during which the power grid was deliberately switched off to prevent electrocution.
At the same time, backup generators at several cell sites were submerged and failed to operate, he said.
Road works
The minister said the NCA would finalise guidelines for coordinating road excavation works and introduce penalties to recover the cost of damage caused to telecommunications infrastructure.
He said the authority would also update its quality-of-service guidelines to distinguish between outages caused by network operators and those resulting from damage caused by third parties.
Mr George said the change would prevent operators from being penalised for disruptions caused by damage to their infrastructure by external parties.
He also said a joint memorandum with the Ministry of Roads and Highways on a “Dig Once” policy had cleared the Cabinet Committee and was expected to be presented to the Cabinet Plenary this week.
Under the proposed policy, road contractors would be required to install fibre chambers alongside newly constructed roads.
5G
The minister said the NCA also intended to complete the assignment of 5G spectrum and launch its online licensing and payment portal before the end of the year.
Mr George did not provide details on how compensation would be calculated, which subscribers would qualify or the exact date the scheme would take effect.
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