GSM Company Asked To Restitute Customers’ Credits

Residents of Fish-Town, River Gee County have called on the management of Lonestar Cell MTN to restitute credits and data they loss due to network outage. For about a week, resident of Fish-Town experienced network failure thus preventing them from communicating with relatives and love ones and accessing mobile money transactions.

The residents, as part of options said, they had to travel to nearby towns and villages to access network in order to make calls and do mobile money transactions. The residents complained of incurring losses because of the distance they covered to withdraw their money.  

“For LD$1,500 business my son sent me from Monrovia since one week today, I have to pay my way LD$300 to go Gbeapo Pronoken and pay the same the amount to come back to Fish Town, I left with just LD$800 after taking the withdrawal fees and transportation totaling LD$600.00”, residents lamented.

As the oldest GSM company in Liberia, the citizens of River Gee are urging authorities of Lonestar MTN to up their game or leave the county. “Lonestar is the oldest GSM Company in Liberia and in the Southeast. They have to be serious or if they don’t want to, then let them leave the County”. 49-year-old Ma. Betty Tole said.

Mobile money Agent, Nathaniel Johnson is also appealing to the management of Lonestar MTN to settle their network problem in the county. He said like customers, he too has to travel to nearby communities with network to do mobile money transactions.

Several business owners and civil society activists in time past have complained the management of Lonestar GSM company in Fish-Town for poor service leading to loss of credits and data.

On February 15, 2024, during the 11th day sitting of the House, River Gee County District 3 Representative Johnson N. Williams complained to the House through a communication about the poor service of Lonestar Cell MTN.

The issue of bad network is not only unique to the people of the Southeast, but also other regions of the country. On January 8, 2025, former Assistant Minister of the ministry of commerce, Morris Saryon wrote a formal letter to the authorities of the Liberia Telecommunications Authority complaining about the poor quality of the telecommunication services in Lofa County.

Dear Honorable Chairman,

“I trust this letter finds you and your team of commissioners well. I am writing to bring to your honorable office attention a pressing issue regarding the poor quality and inefficiency of telecommunication services in Lofa, particularly in Vahun administrative district, Wanhassa administrative district, Foya Tengia administrative district, Kolahun administrative district, and others. Voinjama which happens to be the County seat of Lofa has always suffered from the inefficiency and poor network coverage from time to time thus reducing the pleasurable network services. Against this backdrop, I as a former Assistant Minister and a former candidate for Representative in 2023, request you and your entire team of commissioners at the LTA that these services be upgraded in all parts of Lofa”, the letter of the former assistant minister is quoted as saying.

In response to Mr. Saryon’s letter, the management of the LTA said it will investigate the matter and take the necessary corrective measures. See below LTA’s response.

Barely a week after Mr. Saryon’s letter, another complaint of poor network in River Gee County has surfaced in the public, suggesting the poor state of telecommunication services across the county.