About thirty years ago, technology was introduced to Africa and Ghana got its fair share through the introduction of mobile network.
Ghanaians were able to buy a phone and a self-service SIM card for their own personal use. Although, few people had access to mobile phones and personal sim numbers, this has changed over the years. At the moment, every Ghanaian has a mobile phone and a personal phone number for communication.
The introduction of mobile networks brought many telecommunication companies to Ghana. The top mobile networks in Ghana include the following:
MTN- is the most used and common mobile network in Ghana. It was launched in Ghana about forty years ago as Areeba. They later rebranded and called it MTN, and that has been the name till now. Every Ghanaian who uses a mobile phone has an MTN number as their primary phone digits. Years ago, only MTN existed as a telecommunication company in Ghana, hence almost every Ghanaian has a number from their company. This telecommunication network in Ghana has the highest number of subscribers compared to the others like Vodafone, AirTelTigo, Glo, etc. MTN also has one of the most affordable airtime rates. With one Cedis, you can make a call to two or more people simultaneously. This company is also known to have the fastest internet in Ghana compared to the other networks. MTN sometimes give codes of special offers for their customers. This telecommunication network is also the network with the widest coverage across the nation.
VODAFONE- is the second most utilized mobile network in Ghana. Vodafone is the second company to establish its network here in Ghana after MTN years ago. This network has grown to become one of the best mobile telecommunications in Ghana and they are now the second most popular mobile network and the number one sought after for internet. Unlike MTN, Vodafone has the most affordable internet data in Ghana. In 2013, Vodafone introduced an affordable data package for Ghanaian tertiary students. I subscribed to the package and I recommended it to my friends and course mates to also buy that data package from Vodafone. This affordable internet data package become so popular, hence more users, so Vodafone extended it to all customers.
GLO- became popular about two decades ago when they launched their mobile network in Ghana. GLO became a sudden back up mobile network after MTN and Vodafone because of its cheap and affordable airtime and data packages. It became the most affordable mobile network in Ghana. One of the marketing strategies that worked for this company is their use of Ghanaian celebrities as their ambassadors. This really got them the attention and high number of users that they wanted within a short time of its launch in the country.
AIRTELTIGO- use to be separate companies called Tigo and AirTel. AirTel and Tigo were part of the mobile networks in Ghana and they were successful on their own. However, as MTN and Vodafone became more powerful, taking a much higher percentage of the Ghanaian populace, the other networks like Tigo and AirTel begun to sink and this brought about the merge of AirTel and Tigo, hence AirTelTigo. After the merge, the Ghana government bought the company, so AirTelTigo is a government-owned mobile network. It is now the third most used mobile network in Ghana, and they have very affordable airtime and internet data packages.
Personally, I have a phone number from each of these mobile networks in Ghana and I use all of them simultaneously. In my opinion, everyone should try and use at least two or more networks to get the benefit from all of them.