New Government Tax On International Calling To Ghana

In June this year, the Government in Ghana forced international calling providers to increase their rates by imposing a new tax. This new tax is supposed to generate at least 60 million dollars a year according to Ghana Business News.

Despite the fact that the operational telecom service providers in Ghana are are well known multinational companies, their subscribers still experience problems while calling. Low quality, frequent call drops and connection errors are all common issues for anyone trying to call to Ghana.
One of the companies that were affected by this new tax is Sweden- based Rebtel, provider of cheap international calls. Most of Rebtel’s customers are expats and students living abroad, and Ghanaians in the US is one of the biggest customer groups.
“Yes, the new tax forced us to increase the rate to Ghana up to 20.9 cents from 14.5 cents. That is still one of the lowest rates, and we can still provide cheap calls to Ghana,” says Mikael Rosengren, Operational Controller.
“After the new tax situation, the traffic from the US has decreased with 20%. We find the increased rates deeply regrettable,” says Mikael, “We know how much the thousands of Ghanaians living abroad appreciate Rebtel, when calling their home country.”
Rebtel is an internet phone company that makes it possible to use your own mobile phone for calls to any country at a significantly lower cost than traditional operators. There are no connection fees, hidden costs or monthly fees. Rebtel was established to become a superior alternative to expensive calling cards.
“Hopefully we can lower the rates very soon,” says Mikael Rosengren, “we will observe the situation in Ghana very carefully, since Ghana is one of our most important destinations.”