Three telecom companies in the country have recorded a drop in their mobile subscriber numbers for the month of July, this year. The industry regulator’s market statistics for the month under review named Airtel, Glo and Expresso as the telecos that suffered a dip in their subscriber base. The National Communications Authority (NCA) said Airtel’s mobile subscriber base fell from 3,118,935 in June to 3,117,543 in the month of July. This represents 11.44 per cent of the total market share. The company has been running an expensive promotion in its bid to shore up its numbers while rewarding customers for their loyalty but this seems not to have paid off . Company sources were, however, of the view that the fortunes of Airtel would change by the end of the promotion, which ends in a few weeks’ time. GLO, which entered the market with a lot of enthusiasm, seems to be encountering some challenges in its quest to be among the top three players in the industry. For the month of July, the telco’s subscribership fell by 0.15 per cent to end the month with 1,633,379 as against the 1,660,890 it recorded in June. The company’s total market share is now at six per cent. Expresso also continues to lose its subscribers. Its quota of the market decreased by 0.01 per cent to 154,824 in July after recording 157,828 for June. Its total market share averagely stands at one per cent of the total market share. The gainers MTN, which had some challenges on its network in recent times, however, managed to raise its market share slightly, to maintain its position as the market leader in the highly competitive mobile telephony market. Its subscriber base increased from 12,587,804 in June to 12,792,148 in July. The company’s subscriber base therefore represents 46.95 per cent of the total market share. From 5,748,538 in June, Vodafone’s subscriber base also increased to 5,792,061, representing 21.26 per cent of the total market share. Tigo also experienced a marginal increase from 3,738,104 in June to 3,754,624 in the month under review. The increase in its subscriber number places the company in the third position with 13.78 per cent of the total mobile market share. Nationwide mobile penetration The monthly mobile (Voice) penetration for July 2013, increased to 27,244,579 from 27, 012,099 country wide. This means that mobile voice subscribership increased by 0.9 per cent during the period under review. QoS challenges In spite of the rapid growth of the sector, there are still major challenges on the network of all the players in the industry. The inability of the players to meet the Quality of Service (QoS) standards as set by the industry regulator in different parts of the country at different times has attracted heavy penalty fines from the NCA. For instance, for the month of June, the NCA notified operators of publication of findings from its assessments and sanctioned operators concerning measurement performed in June. MTN was sanctioned GH¢100, 000.00 for defaulting Call Setup Time obligation in the Central and Western regions. Tigo was also slapped with GH¢50, 000.00 for defaulting Call Congestion obligation in Central Region. Glo suffered the heaviest sanction of GH¢200,000.00 for defaulting Call Setup Time, Call Completion and Signalling Congestion obligations in Central and Western regions. Airtel was fined GH¢100, 000.00 for defaulting Call Congestion and Call Setup in Central and Western Regions respectively while Expresso was sanctioned to build sites in Kasoa in the Central and Essikado in Western regions for defaulting Call Congestion in both Central and Western regions. Vodafone remained compliant according to the NCA, to all the licence obligations in the month of June. Meanwhile, the incessant calls on the NCA to ensure that customers who suffer from the poor QoS from the telcos benefit from the fines seem to be paying off as the regulator has directed MTN to compensate its customers who suffered from some hiccups on its network last month. The public, however expected that the other players would also be made to do same subsequently instead of the NCA sanctioning them and keeping the money to itself.