COST OF AIRTIME/DATA IN AFRICA, PARTICULARLY GHANA.
CAN WE AFFORD TO BE ONLINE 24/7?
IS THERE VALUE FOR MONEY?
WARM GREETINGS FROM ACCRA,GHANA.
Today, I want to speak on behalf of my ghanaian colleagues on the matter of high cost of airtime and internet that is steadily serving as barrier to technological advancement in our part of the world.
Well, I havent been to other countries but i know for a fact that the amount we spend to get on the internet in ghana is absurd and really unfair.
The telecom warlords have engaged in collision practices to set their cost per internet bundles almost same to cripple our alternatives. And to crown these acts, the do not offer effective and fast internet services.
In Ghana, to have access to the internet fully for 24 hours will cost you a substantial amount of money, which the lower-class cannot afford.
PRICE PER DATA FROM AIRTEL/TIGO(A telecom network)
ANALYSIS
From their price quotation, it is obvious that to have internet access for 24 hours a day will cost one a minimum of 10cedis a day, which is 70cedis a week and 210 cedis a month. AND MIND YOU, THIS IS THE LEAST ONE IS COMPELLED TO SPEND.
This surveys suggest the fact that the middle-class Ghanaian may spend about 20% of income on internet. These companies are robbing us of our wealth, Yet Our hands are tied down. The minimum wage in Ghana is 7-8 cedis per day. which is 48cedis a week,192 cedis a month.Yet it cost 210 cedis to stay online 24 hours a day. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!!
THIS IS THE ONE OF THE MAIN ISSUIES THAT THE GHANAIAN COMMUNITY FACES.
THESE GIANTS HAVE MONOPOLIZED THE MARKET FOR TOO LONG.
IT IS MY HOPE THAT SOME AMENDMENTS CAN BE MADE OR BETTER STILL LEND A HELPING HAND.
