Ghanaians May Soon Pay Less for Mobile Data as Government Reviews Telecom Tax Burden

Mobile data costs in Ghana could soon decrease as the government moves to address the heavy tax load currently impacting telecommunications services. This development follows ongoing discussions between the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and the Ministry of Finance aimed at restructuring the nearly 39% tax consumers pay on data services.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, Communications and Digitalisation Minister Samuel Nartey George explained that several levies—including VAT, the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL), the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) levy, the COVID-19 levy, and the Communications Service Tax (CST)—are major contributors to high mobile data costs.

“These taxes account for close to 39 percent of what the average consumer pays for data,” Mr. George said. “We’re in talks with the Finance Ministry to evaluate these components. Once concluded, we expect this to result in lower charges for consumers.”

He noted that once the tax burden is eased, telecom operators will be required to pass the savings on to users.

In a related move, Mr. George revealed that all three major telecom operators—MTN Ghana, AirtelTigo, and Telecel—will roll out enhanced data packages starting July 1, 2025.

• AirtelTigo Ghana will increase its GH¢400 data bundle from 190GB to 236GB.

• Telecel will boost its GH¢400 package from 90GB to 250GB.

• MTN Ghana, which holds a dominant 76% market share, will raise its data bundle by 15%. Its GH¢399 bundle (formerly priced at GH¢350) will now offer 214GB, up from 92.88GB.

“These changes come at a cost to the providers,” Mr. George acknowledged. “We appreciate their commitment to easing the burden on Ghanaians.”

The Minister also announced that the long-awaited spectrum allocation process is expected to be finalized by the first week of July. This is expected to help improve service quality across networks.

In preparation, the three telecom giants have pledged a combined $150 million investment in infrastructure, including spectrum acquisition and network upgrades, by the end of 2025. Telecel, in particular, has already received regulatory clearance to use the NGIC 2,100MHz spectrum under a newly approved Connecting Entity Licence—an upgrade expected to improve short-term service delivery.

Additionally, the government is collaborating with the Ministry of Energy and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to introduce a special electricity tariff for telecom providers—similar to that used in the mining industry—to reduce operational costs.

Addressing previous policy decisions, Mr. George criticized actions taken under the former administration, particularly the upfront collection of the Communications Service Tax and delays in spectrum release, which he said worsened consumer costs.

“In a liberalized economy, I cannot dictate prices—just as the Minister for Trade cannot order GUTA members to lower theirs,” he noted. “But we are actively engaging stakeholders to find practical solutions.”

The National Communications Authority is set to conduct a nationwide quality-of-service assessment between October and December 2025. Operators that fail to meet standards will be penalized.

“After eight years of poor management, we cannot fix everything in four months,” Mr. George concluded, “but the steps we’re taking will bring real improvement to both pricing and service quality for Ghanaians.”