• Burkina Faso enforces 2023 telecom rules, extending balances and boosting user rights
• Consumers say measures still miss core demand for lower internet prices
  
• Regulator reports price drops, though affordability remains far above ITU benchmark

Burkina Faso’s telecom regulator announced new consumer protection rules on Tuesday, but customers said the measures fall short of their main demand: lower internet prices.

The Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP) said the rules, suspended since they were adopted in 2023, are now enforceable following a court ruling. The changes include extending the validity of users’ main account balances from 90 to 180 days, allowing promotional credits to be used across all networks, and giving customers a grace period to reclaim unused call credit and data. The regulator also set a minimum one-month validity for 1-GB data bundles.

Alongside lower prices, subscribers are calling for clearer improvements in service quality, slower data depletion, better usage-tracking tools, and new offers such as unlimited plans.

The rules were drafted after a consumer boycott movement in mid-April 2023 targeted operators Orange, Moov Africa and Telecel over high costs and poor service. Public frustration has persisted since then, often voiced on social media.

ARCEP says the new measures are “concrete, objective and operational,” and will help lower service costs and strengthen consumer protections. 

According to Executive Secretary Wendlassida Patrice Compaoré, the changes have already reduced the average prices of standard mobile internet plans from Orange Burkina Faso and ONATEL by between 28% and 45%, depending on plans with at least a one-month validity. Regulatory decisions regarding Orange Burkina Faso have also halved SMS prices to other national networks and forced operators to gradually make bonuses usable across all networks.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals that monthly mobile internet spending in Burkina Faso amounted to 8.8% of GNI per capita in 2025. For a service to be considered affordable, this ratio must be below 2%. The African average is 5.32%, compared with 1.38% globally.

Isaac K. Kassouwi