06 February 2025
The Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) of Benin has imposed fines totalling 4.8 billion CFA francs on MTN Benin and Moov Africa Benin. The regulator accuses the two mobile operators of failing to meet the coverage obligations contained in their respective specifications.
MTN will have to pay 3.3 billion CFA francs to the Public Treasury before March 15, 60 days after notification of the decision. Moov Africa owes 1.5 billion CFA francs to the State. A formal notice of twelve months was also given to each of the two operators to comply with their coverage obligations.
Moov Africa and MTN were required to cover the entire territory in 3G by 2020 and in 4G by 2021. Coverage of all road axes was also required by the 2020 deadline. However, the measurement campaigns carried out by the regulator in 2021 revealed performances below the obligations. Of the 526 districts checked, MTN only had 23 compliant in 3G and 46 in 4G. On Moov Africa's side, only 17 districts met the compliance criteria for 3G, compared to 16 for 4G. Furthermore, none of the country's 11 road axes met the coverage requirements.
In April 2022, the regulator sent the two operators 12-month formal notices to remedy the shortcomings noted. However, measurements carried out in 2023 did not reveal any improvement in road coverage. Of the 99 districts assessed, Moov Africa did not achieve the required level of coverage in either 3G or 4G. MTN, for its part, only had one district that was compliant for 3G.
ARCEP expects that the measures taken against telecoms operators will contribute to improving the coverage of 3G and 4G networks in Benin.
