MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroun and Nexttel (Viettel) have committed to a cumulative investment of 156-billion francs CFA in 2023, according to Justine Diffo née Tchunkam, Chair of the Telecommunications Regulatory Board (TRB).

Diffo said the funds will be used to extend network coverage and improve the quality of electronic communication services throughout the national territory.

In December 2022, the three MNOs (under the Cameroon Association of Telephone Mobile Operators (CATMO), and Camtel reached a multi-party framework agreement with the objective to improve the quality of electronic communication services and network performance.

The MNOs have committed to deploy new infrastructure to handle the growing number of subscribers and agreed to align their services with the ITU’s E-800 recommendation.

MTN Cameroon CEO and incumbent chair of CATMO Mitwa Ng'ambi said, “I think what our consumers should be expecting should be an improvement in the future as we look to find lasting solutions to the challenges that are impacting the quality of services today.”

CATMO said they have registered at least 1,800 optic fibre cuts and 1,000 power cuts in 2022 alone, over twice the figure recorded in 2021, which has a serious bearing on the quality of service delivered.

Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Minette Libom Li Likeng saidthe TRB has suffered from a lack of requisite equipment to assess the quality of services, making it difficult to evaluate the responsibility of operators acting in bad faith.

She added that the regulator now has the tools for effective monitoring and it will be in the best interest of operators to maintain good quality services.

“As from 2023, we will publish the quality of service of each operator, their applicable prices, and users will be able to the operator which best responds to their needs,” said Likeng.