American Tower’s Ghana unit (ATC Ghana) and Telecel Ghana, the second-largest carrier in Ghana, have been engaged in a dispute that led to a network disruption for Telecel Ghana last week. ATC Ghana disconnected some of Telecel’s sites, accusing the telco of failing to meet payment obligations for access to the sites. In response, the National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana instructed ATC to reconnect all Telecel Ghana sites by midday on July 6 and retract its statements about Telecel Ghana in the media.
Telecel Ghana hit back, stating that it reserves the right to use all lawful means to protect its brand and claim damages it will suffer as a result of the publications and any unlawful actions taken by ATC Ghana.
The NCA plans to hold future talks with both parties to ensure there’s no repeat of the incident. Telecel, which acquired a majority stake in Vodafone Ghana last year, has around nine million mobile customers in Ghana.
This is not the first time ATC has been involved in such disputes. In Kenya, ATC Kenya demanded payments of $3.26m and $978k per month from Telkom Kenya to turn back on mast sites it switched off last year.
The telecommunications industry in Ghana has been growing rapidly, with stakeholders such as the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization working to improve the sector’s regulatory framework. Tower sites are critical infrastructure for the industry, and disputes over non-payment of bills have led to legal action and service disruption in the past. To avoid such disputes, tower co-location sites have been established to enable multiple operators to share infrastructure. In cases where disputes cannot be resolved through negotiation, arbitration or other commercial solutions may be sought to restore service.