(Ecofin Agency) - The Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) recently completed the inspection of telecom mast and towers deployed in the country. The operation, which started in March, aims to check compliance with regulatory standards.  The regulator also assessed the quality of the services offered by each of the operators using those towers and mast. The criteria used were GSM signal quality, network coverage, and Call Setup Success Rate. 

According to the PURA, the mast and towers meet some recommended standards namely, the reflective paint, red safety light on telecom towers as well as the use of grounding and lightning protection. However, the institution will publish a report making recommendations to various operators. 

The regulator’s move aligns with its ambition to guarantee quality telecom services for the population and support digital transformation. Indeed, in The Gambia, telecom infrastructures are regularly vandalized. This negatively affects service quality. Recently, to effectively carry out its duties, PURA improved its service quality monitoring system. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi