Cellcom 4G was launched in late June with offers such as video phone calls and high-speed Internet. The features were however only available to organisations that could afford them — at more than US$1000 per month.
In the highly publicized event the vice president of the Republic of Liberia Amb. Joseph Boakai among other prominent persons attended, Cellcom claimed to have been the first service provider in West Africa to have provided 4G services thus attracting Liberia telecommunications authority’s (LTA’s) attention, according to reports.
LTA, a state owned organisation, saw otherwise as it is launching an investigation aimed at acquiring all the facts and relevant information surrounding this claim — in order to correct any half-truths.
According to LTA, Cellcom was only issued a license to operate a UTMS-HSPA network in the country and the records show that Cellcom does not have the right license to provide 4G services.
It further explained that the license provided to Cellcom only authorised the provision of broadband voice services, such as mobile broadband wireless data services and applications broadband Internet /data services as well as multimedia services.
The LTA added that Cellcom was not the only one that was at fault, other operators including Lonestarcell MTN, Cellcom’s arch rival, who only had the authorization for fixed voice services, Internet services 2G and 3G data services had also initially claimed to have services for which they do not have a license for.
LTA is a regulatory and competition authority, which sees the provision of responsible vibrant services in Liberia’s telecommunication sector.
Cellcom is a telecommunications company that offers cellular network access, high-speed broadband Internet and business solutions. It was established in Liberia in 2004 and currently operates in Liberia and Guinea.
