By Francis H. Murray
Sierra Leone’s youngest telecommunications company, QCell, is again at the receiving end of a very fierce competition, after its two main rivals shut their doors on it, leaving its customers unable to make cross network calls.
QCell raised the alarm on Friday after Orange and Africell, the two leading operators in the country, blocked all calls to and from its network.
QCell said the instruction for the “unlawful” action of the two companies came from the National Telecommunications Company (NATCOM) and it is unhappy that it received no prior warning from anyone of them.
The incident happened at around 18hrs, according to a statement from QCell. “Both Africell and Orange blocked all calls to and from their networks to QCELL on the instructions of NATCOM without any lawful notification or notice despite the existence of interconnection agreements between them and QCELL,’’ the statement said.
It added that the action did not only disrupt the company’s operation, but that it also deprived the government and the people of Sierra Leone access to information vital in the fight against ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
‘‘This action by NATCOM, Africell & Orange is depriving the customers of their right to communicate between licensed networks, depriving the Government of Sierra Leone the much-needed revenue and interrupting vital communication when it is most needed to help curb the menace of Covid-19 that is affecting the country currently,’’ it states.
QCell, a Gambian owned company, joined the Sierra Leone market in 2017 to become the 4th network operating in an already highly competitive business environment. It began full operation in January 2019.
This is the second time QCell has complained of unfair treatment in the hands of its bigger competitors.
Late last year, QCell subscribers were left struggling to make calls to Africell amidst complaint by the former that the latter had refused to open its network to its customers.
There has been no word from either Africell or Orange on the latest impasse. But sources close to one of the companies told Politico that the latest issue was necessitated by the failure of QCell to meets its financial obligations to its rivals.
But QCell in its statement said it owed no debt to either Orange or Africell. It added that it had taken up the issue with the two rival companies and the telecoms regulator, while awaiting the immediate resolution of the matter.
NATCOM in a statement on Saturday confirmed its role in Friday’s actions and blamed it on Qcell for allegedly failing to comply with recent measures instituted by the Commission.
‘‘The public should be aware that due to the Finance Act 2020, in which a Cap of Le650 was put, NATCOM put a floor of Le590 which was agreed by all mobile network operators, National Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Finance. Qcell, however, has not been fully compliant with the dictates of the floor price even after several correspondences and meetings,’’ NATCOM said in its statement issued late Saturday.
It however noted that in line with its mandate as a regulator of the sector, it planned to bring all parties together in order to reach an amicable resolution of the matter.
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