The Head of Public Relations, Orange Sierra Leone Annie Wonnie Katta has called for a round table discussion with Stakeholders in the Sierra Leone Telecommunications industry for Tariff Review.

Madam Katta made the passionate appeal in a recent interview with Radio Democracy as the cost of Telecommunications operations continues to soar in the country.

She acknowledged the fact that the telecommunication industry is contributing immensely to the development of the government’s Socioeconomic development and they are also serving as one of the biggest taxpayers and employers of the people in the country. She added that they are investing more in terms of bringing telecommunications Services to the people of Sierra Leone and also upholding their corporate social responsibilities.

However, she pointed out that since the start of 2022, they have suffered a lot in terms of the inflation in the country. She maintained that they have invested so much to expand their network so that everybody in Sierra Leone, even in the remote village can be able to make, receive calls, and also access the Internet.

She emphasized that “Over the last month, things are becoming difficult for us because of the inflation in the country and the Forex Exchange which are threatening to cripple our business. For example, the last time tariff was increased for mobile companies in this country was in 2017. And in 2017, the exchange rate was around 7,258 old Leones so now the exchange rate is 18NL to one dollar and all the businesses we are doing even with Zoodlabs that is based in Sierra Leone we are paying in dollars. In 2017, we are paying 7,258 today we are at 18,000NL per and this cripples our business.
Second is the increase in the cost of fuel we want our people to know that we that are doing business in the country are buying fuel in bulk and we are always paying more. The pump price today is 21NL and we are buying at 25NL.
The third challenge is the cost of EDSA. EDSA has increased their cost. To operate our site and businesses means we are paying more.”

However, she maintained that as a customer-centric Telecommunication company, that is why they are calling for a roundtable discussion.She believes mobile operators are service providers and providing services is an investment that cost a huge amount of money.