Africa-Press – Gambia. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has established a mandatory price floor of D50 per gigabyte for mobile data services. The intervention aims to halt a damaging price war between operators that PURA states has compromised network quality and threatened the sector’s long-term sustainability.
The regulatory body cited widespread consumer complaints—including network congestion, severely slowed internet speeds, frequent dropped calls, and degraded coverage outside urban areas—as the primary catalyst for the measure. PURA emphasized that unsustainable pricing, while superficially attractive, ultimately undermines service reliability and disincentivizes critical infrastructure investment.
“Cheap data that doesn’t work is no victory for consumers. PURA’s responsibility is to act when the market fails,” the authority stated in a release.
The newly introduced price floor is designed to deliver several key benefits:
Improved Service Quality: Guaranteeing faster, more consistent internet and voice services across the country.
Sustainable Investment: Ensuring operators have the revenue to continue investing in network infrastructure, towers, and nationwide coverage.
Market Fairness: Preventing destructive undercutting and creating a stable, competitive environment.
Economic Support: Protecting the reliability of connectivity essential for education, healthcare, and business operations.
To accompany the pricing rule, PURA has committed to enhanced transparency measures. These include publishing the cost model used to determine the floor, assessing the introduction of lifeline packages for vulnerable groups, establishing clear quality-of-service benchmarks, and conducting regular public reporting and audits.
PURA clarified that its role is not to stifle competition or prohibit promotional offers, but to “protect quality, fairness, and sustainability in the market.” The authority pledged ongoing engagement with citizens, media, and stakeholders to ensure the policy safeguards consumers while fostering the investments needed for a robust digital future.
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