The Director General of the National Telecommunications Authority (NatCA), Amara Brewah, has announced major reforms that will transform pricing structure for telecommunication companies in the country.

DG Brewah made the announcement on Tuesday during the weekly government press briefing on Tuesday.

He said a Cost Study had been completed, which would have a potential impact on tariff prices.

“With the help of the Ministry, we have just completed a Cost Study. A Cost Study takes into account everything the mobile companies spend in providing the services they are providing now.” This, he added, will help them in determining how much they should charge a consumer compared to government’s pricing formula on rice sold in the country.

He said a new pricing system NatCA services would be adopted and it would be reviewed periodically.

DG Brewah said NaTCA would not give in on its commitment to quality services to consumers. He said the authority’s role is delicate because it has to consider three different players; consumers, investors and the government.

“As we are carrying out our mandate, we have three groups of people to please; the first person is the consumer.

We need to make sure the consumers are happy with the services the operator is providing

Speaking on quality of service,” he said:

“Quality of Service is a big issue, I know you are all concerned about this, but NaTCA is on top of this situation, we are working on it very hard.”

Part of their job as a regulator is to engage with all the service providers on improving quality service.

But engagement fails, he said, they could take action.

Last week the authority, fined Orange Sierra Leone, a telecommunication company, a sum of $1 million for their poor network service rendered.

“We urged them that these people (subscribers) need to take the people of Sierra Leone seriously, so we had to fine them.”

He said despite the fine, NaTCA has always been open up to constructive conversations with operators on the challenges they face and on how government could help them to resolve those challenges.

DG Brewah, who was just appointed last year, has done a lot in his capacity.

He thanked the Ministry of Communication for their support.

“When the Ministry is putting together the policy framework, our own job as regulator is to make sure the price is affordable to anyone,” he said.

DG Brewah also gave a major update on 5G technology which will focus on data.

He spoke that “5G technology is at the trial phase; the operators are working hard to get that in place. We have Star Link, they are now in the country and the good thing is that they don’t have a heavy infrastructure, they just install and you connect.”

Orange and Africell have both tapped into the 5G space with government providing a conducive environment for  technology to thrive.