In March 2024, Vodafone Ghana officially ceased to exist.
After being purchased by the Telecel group in 2023 from the Vodafone Group, the company was officially rebranded as Telecel Ghana.
At a launch event in Accra, the CEO of Telecel Group, Moh Damush, said, “We are thrilled to announce the launch of Telecel brand in Ghana, marking a significant milestone for Telecel and an opportunity to provide positive disruption, advancement, and innovation in Ghana.”
He added, “Telecel Group promises to put its heart and soul into the company, which is and will continue to be the flagship of Telecel in West Africa.”
A year and some change after the rebrand, how is Telecel Ghana faring?
According to some of its customers, it’s not so great.
One customer we spoke to had a one-word response to the state of Telecel’s services: “Dreadful“.
Big Start, Subscriber Loss, and Power Issues
After its launch event, Telecel announced the addition of 300 new 4G sites in November 2023 to improve service.
The company has also been undertaking many corporate social responsibility projects across the country.
But currently, its mobile service and broadband don’t look as rosy.
MTN Ghana is the top dog when it comes to voice and data subscribers in the country. The company currently has more than 70% market share, dwarfing all other competitors.
Vodafone was losing subscribers before Telecel took over. But the losing streak has not slowed down since the takeover.
Since 2019, Vodafone/Telecel’s market share in voice dropped from 24% to 18% in 2022.
As of 2024, Telecel’s market share in Voice Data stood at 17%.
In July 2024, Telecel was involved in some controversy when the tower company American Tower Corporation (ATC) cut off power supply to Telecel antennas due to unpaid bills.
The regulator, the National Communication Authority(NCA), had to step in to mediate to reconnect power.
Customer Complaints Remain High
If you’re on the X social platform, you’re likely to see a barrage of customer complaints about Telecel.
The Labari Journal reached out to some Telecel users to get their thoughts on the Telecel network.
One user in Abelempke lamented about the company’s poor mobile service:
“The quality really dropped since they have transitioned from Vodafone. Network is barely working. People call me, my line is off. I call people, it just doesnt ring. Internet is slow or barely consistent.”
Another issue in East Legon had issues with the company’s mobile service:
“I get disconnected during calls, people call me and can’t get through to me, my unused data bundles expire because your internet connectivity is terrible and so I’m not able to use the data.”
One user was frustrated with the company’s poor customer service:
“Telecel never communicates if there is a problem. You personally have to follow up severally after complaining.”
When asked why they haven’t switched, the majority of users The Journal surveyed stated that they use multiple SIMs/networks, while others stated that cost was a factor in fully switching providers.
In defense of Telecel, there has been a series of fibre cuts due to road construction and theft, all of which interrupt mobile and data services.
Nevertheless, customers still complain on social media about the degrading service of the company.
We emailed Telecel for a comment on its customer complaints. At the time of this publication, we had yet to receive a response.
Telecel’s Path to an IPO
Before Telecel acquired Vodafone Ghana, the group indicated that they planned to issue an Initial Public Offer (IPO) after the acquisition formalities were over and it had strengthened the brand in the country.
The group plans to go public within the next five years and is currently pursuing more deals in the West Africa region.
They currently have operations in the Central African Republic, Liberia, South Africa, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry.
So is Telecel’s plan for Ghana just to add to its collection for its IPO?
Telecel’s mobile and broadband services since the acquisition haven’t been great, as noted above.
Apart from the launch of a new savings feature and some promotional deals, Telecel does not offer many incentives for customers to stay on the network.
5G service is yet to be officially rolled out, and there’s no current timeline for its activation for telecom companies.
Can Telecel Get Its Groove Back?
5G could be a differentiator, but until it rolls out, Telecel will be a tough sell for prospective consumers.
Even with 4G, Telecel still lingers as MTN continues to dominate with almost 83% of the market share.
It will be an uphill climb for Telecel to improve subscriber numbers in the mobile space as MTN continues to dominate.
On May 16th, 2025, the Telecel Group paid a visit to the NCA to discuss more allocation for spectrum to enhance its delivery of quality services to consumers.
Plans for an IPO for the Telecel Group still appear to be on the table. But if the network wants to win more friends in Ghana, it needs to step up efforts to improve its service to customers.
As one user noted, “They should focus on proper services than investing in useless things like The Ghana Music Awards, especially since their networks are always going off on both broadband and mobile.“
