Minpostel, MTN, Orange make rubbish of flight mode protest, offer cosmetic solutions

Since Monday, April 24, 2023, Cameroonians have been expressing their discontent with top Cameroonian telecommunication service providers, MTN and Orange. The protest over poor but expensive services was initiated by musician Karyce Fotso who started a midday-2 pm flight mode, user activation. This gained momentum as more celebrities joined the protest.

To calm the situation, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and the different telephone operators, CAMTEL, MTN, and ORANGE on Thursday, April 27 held a meeting with a focus on improving the quality of services and consumer protection stemming from increasing recurrent complaints from Cameroonians.

But no concrete solution was arrived at. The two main private companies boasted how they provide the cheapest and best services in Cameroon, showing no sign of a reduction in prices.

The presentation by each licensed operator of the actions carried out to date to improve the quality of service in its network (coverage, pricing, and investment), in accordance with its specifications and the presentation by Telecommunications Regularly Agency (ART) of the initiatives undertaken in the framework of the respect of the specifications by the operators and in particular the improvement of the quality of the services were the two main points on the agenda.

The technical mediocrity, the Internet offer; difficulties in making telephone calls (interconnection problem, latency time, number of attempts, etc.); misleading and unwanted advertising, etc.; the lack of transparency in setting consumer prices were issues detected in most localities covered by the operators’ 2G/3G/4G services.

The Minister said, despite the efforts made to better the provided services, recurrent complaints show that these efforts are not good enough, and thus need readjustment.

“If it is true that complaints from Cameroonian consumers are frequent, it is clear that this expression of dissatisfaction with the quality of service is growing. The Government could not remain indifferent to this continuing situation. The State must ensure, for the well-being of the population, the establishment of favorable conditions for the proper functioning of the sector and the reorganization of related activities, taking into account the sectoral development policy, the rules of the industry, and applicable regulations. In order to find lasting solutions to this situation, it was appropriate to examine together, on the one hand, the progress made to date for the improvement of the quality of service in the respective networks (investment, network coverage, pricing) of the operators and on the other hand, the difficulties encountered, as well as the permanent and effective solutions in the short term to overcome these failures”. Explained the Minister.

Though the main bottlenecks were identified during the exchanges with the news to find lasting solutions, it was disclosed that the costs of electronic communications in Cameroon are among the best in Africa and in the sub-region with Cameroonians not sufficiently aware of the offers and the behaviors to adopt when using the said offers.

However, the operators during the gathering settled on taking immediate measures and actions like;

• Mechanisms for reimbursing unused data credit will be put in place so that it is systematically returned in the event of network unavailability. The implementation of the said mechanism will take effect within a maximum period of two weeks. The consumer will be systematically informed of the downlink speed corresponding to the data plan subscribed. The consumer will have at his disposal a tool that compares the prices of the offers, the coverage, and the performance of the network for each operator.
• On the part of the Regulator, they will ensure the implementation by the operators of the recommendations of the audit of electronic communications carried out on very high prescriptions of the Head of State. Ensure strict compliance with their specifications by operators. Sanction systematically and this, in accordance with the legal provisions, any failure of the operators.

“It must nevertheless be recognized that the poor quality of services is also due to exogenous factors, in particular: power cuts, fiber optic cuts due to civil engineering works, and acts of vandalism. Consultations are continuing with the main competent actors, namely the Public Administrations and Institutions, the Decentralized Territorial Collectivities”. Reminded MINPOSTEL.

The Ministry pledged to ensure that citizens benefit from reliable, equitable, affordable, and non-discriminatory access to electronic communications services, and will continue to work in close collaboration with the Regulator, operators, and consumer associations which, it should be remembered, have a formal voice within the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency, to ensure access equitable, affordable and non – discriminatory electronic communications services for all citizens.