Voda and MTN Broadband Internet Data Expiration Must Stop

Broadband internet data expiration is a big issue that many businesses and individual subscribers of Vodafone and MTN continue to complain about.

According to news sighted on CNN by NewsGhana24  “Consumers in African countries are paying some of the highest rates in the world for internet access as a proportion of income.”

The truth is bitter and it makes no sense to buy data compulsorily every month just to save your unused data on your account from being erased by these two networks that provide you with internet services.

This Broadband internet data expiration strategy deployed by these telecommunication networks amounts to cheating the customer. 

Over the past 15 years, the cost of mobile data has declined significantly as technology improves and becomes cheaper yet internet service providers in Ghana and the African market at large find it extremely difficult to allow clients to effectively use their entire data. They have therefore set expiration dates for data you users buy with hard-earned cash.

Broadband service providers continue to seek the interest of their shareholders as against that of users and stakeholders. Putting in place mechanisms to “cheat” broadband data users and prevent them from fully enjoying their data to the last byte is rather unfortunate.

Sadly, the ministry of communication and successive governments have seen nothing wrong with that. 

Why is it that, prepaid ECG credit for power Ghanaians buy does not expire but broadband internet does expire? Are they not both prepaid services? 

According to operators and service providers, they also have to buy data from wholesale providers,  calculate the load on the network in order and make accurate purchasing decisions.

Even if that will not last forever, broadband data should last at least 60 days instead of the 30-33  days provided by these service providers.

Telkom in South Africa has increased its data expiry periods for the non-promotional data bundles to up to six months. MTN and Vodafone Ghana must be thinking in this direction and save users of broadband internet from being ripped off. 

Other telcos in other countries are doing it. The cost of internet access is dropping globally but not fast enough in Africa where users continue to escalate. 

The government must champion the call for broadband data expiration to be extended to a minimum of 60 days in Ghana so that users of the services can get value for money.

Source: NewsGhana24| Wisdom Hammond  

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