The agreement lays the foundation for a broader national roaming partnership between the two and will see Vodafone Ghana expand its network coverage using MTN’s network infrastructure during the pilot.
“The implementation of national roaming will enable Vodafone Ghana customers to stay connected in areas outside our current locations of coverage. This is especially important for rural communities as national roaming invariably provides a greater choice of network providers," said Patricia Obo-Nai, CEO of Vodafone Ghana.
"We believe strongly that the collaboration in the Volta Region is a positive step, and working together with the Government, the regulator and MTN Ghana, we look forward to extending the national roaming service beyond the Volta Region in due course.”
The trial has been approved by National Communications Authority (NCA) as well as the the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, which implemented the policy framework to support such a partnership in Ghana.
Through the pilot both companies aim to facilitate universal access and accelerate digitalisation across the country in line with the government's ambitions for a digital economy.
“This agreement is a milestone for the industry and is in line with our Ambition 2025 strategic intent of “Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress,” said Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of MTN Ghana.
“MTN fully supports the Government’s National Roaming plans. We acknowledge that national roaming will extend network coverage for Ghanaians nationwide and support the growth of the Ghana Telecommunications industry. Our Engineers have worked tirelessly to test and develop solutions to various challenges encountered along the journey and we are excited about what lies ahead in this partnership with Vodafone Ghana.”
The outcome of the pilot will become clear over the coming months and will inform the development of the next phase of the partnership, which includes the more technical configurations for roaming on either network.
