The Gambia’s telecoms sector has taken a sharp and troubling turn. In what may sound like good news at first glance, data tariffs have plummeted to the lowest on the planet. While cheap data may delight consumers in the short term, the broader implications for quality, sustainability, and fair competition are deeply worrying. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) must urgently step in to restore order before the situation spirals further out of control.
The recent price war among telecoms operators is not born out of efficiency gains or genuine competitive innovation, but rather out of an unsustainable race to the bottom. When companies slash prices below viable operating levels, they may initially attract customers, but the long-term effect is almost always detrimental: poor service quality, network congestion, staff layoffs, and eventual market monopolisation when weaker players collapse. In the end, consumers lose far more than they gain.
PURA’s mandate is clear — to regulate the sector in a manner that balances consumer interests with the need for sustainable business operations. It must ensure that tariffs are fair, transparent, and economically viable. This requires urgent intervention to set reasonable price floors, enforce quality standards, and prevent predatory pricing practices that undermine market stability.
Equally concerning is the ripple effect on investment. Telecom infrastructure — from fibre optic networks to base stations — is expensive to build and maintain. If revenue streams are choked by unsustainably low tariffs, operators will inevitably cut corners on upgrades and maintenance. This could stall the country’s digital transformation, cripple connectivity in rural areas, and widen the digital divide.
Moreover, The Gambia cannot afford to have its telecoms sector reduced to a two-horse race where aggressive pricing forces smaller competitors out, paving the way for a monopoly or duopoly. Once market dominance is achieved, the same companies currently slashing prices can hike them again at will, with no real competition to keep them in check. Consumers would then be trapped, paying more for poorer service.
PURA must therefore act decisively. It should convene all stakeholders — operators, consumer groups, and policymakers — to agree on sustainable tariff frameworks, coupled with strict quality benchmarks. The objective should not be the cheapest data in the world, but rather the best value: affordable prices matched by reliable speeds, wide coverage, and robust customer service.
If left unchecked, today’s price war could become tomorrow’s telecom crisis. The Gambia’s digital future is too important to be left to market chaos. PURA must restore sanity now.
