The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) has levied substantial fines on mobile telecommunications operators Lonestar Cell MTN and Orange Liberia, citing serious regulatory violations. Each provider has been fined US$300,000.
Acting LTA Chairperson, Abdullah Kamara, disclosed these sanctions on Thursday, June 27, during the Information Ministry’s regular press briefing. The most significant violations involve breaches of the Floor Price regulation and the refusal to submit critical data with revenue implications.
“A Floor Price is a regulatory intervention tool used to stabilize a declining market,” Kamara explained. “In 2019, we implemented it to set a minimum consumer package price for both data and voice services. It was a response to the ‘price wars’ between providers, where they offered more minutes per dollar to consumers at below-market prices. While this appeared beneficial to consumers, it led to network congestion, dropped calls, poor service quality, and declining revenues.”
According to him, the intense competition caused providers to struggle with network expansion and forced them to decommission towers nationwide, leading to staff layoffs and a shrinking telecommunications landscape. The Floor Price intervention initially stabilized the sector, increased revenues, and allowed providers to expand their networks and innovate.
“However,” Kamara continued, “over the past year, we’ve seen a return to pre-Floor Price offerings, leading to another sharp decline in market stability and government revenue capacity. This is not good. The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are fully aware their actions are directly causing this market disruption. Despite our calls for them to reintroduce packages within the Floor Price metric, they have not complied.”
The acting LTA chairperson said that in addition to the Floor Price violations, the LTA identified several other issues. One significant concern is cross-border connectivity. Orange Liberia acquired a cross-border connectivity license with the Ivory Coast from the LTA, which was used during the March internet disruption and remains available today.
“Their acquisition of that temporary license was not in writing, violating their existing license terms,” Kamara noted.
He said further investigations revealed three unreported links belonging to Orange — two international and one local. These links were not disclosed to the LTA, breaching license agreements and complicating the authority’s ability to monitor the sector effectively.
“These violations are grave and compromise our ability to monitor the sector effectively. We hope these fines will curb these actions immediately,” Kamara stated.
He added that the LTA’s decision to impose fines underscores its commitment to maintaining regulatory standards and ensuring a stable telecommunications market in Liberia. The authority expects both Lonestar MTN and Orange Liberia to address these violations promptly and comply with the established regulations to avoid further penalties.
