Cameroon’s Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART) has issued formal notices to CAMTEL, Orange Cameroon and MTN Cameroon after identifying 93 regulatory violations valued at CFA18.6 billion. In a statement issued on November 10, 2026, the regulator gave the three operators 15 days to correct the problems. The amounts are not fines at this stage. ART will conduct follow-up inspections before deciding whether to impose penalties.

The violations were identified during inspections conducted between July 13 and August 10, 2026, in Yaoundé, Douala and Bafoussam, as well as along the Yaoundé–Édéa–Douala, Douala–Nkongsamba–Bafoussam and Bafoussam–Bafia–Yaoundé highways. CAMTEL recorded the most violations, with 41 valued at CFA8.2 billion, followed by Orange Cameroon with 29 valued at CFA5.8 billion and MTN Cameroon with 23 valued at CFA4.6 billion. For each operator, the amounts work out to CFA200 million per violation. That calculation alone, however, does not establish the regulatory penalty scale used by ART.

CAMTEL’s violations concern equipment certification, compliance with frequency-use requirements and the performance of 2G and 3G voice services, mobile internet and SMS in the three cities inspected. The regulator also identified gaps in 2G coverage along the highways surveyed and problems with the operator’s core network, particularly network availability, service continuity, redundancy and failover systems. At Orange Cameroon, the violations include the use of radio frequencies and microwave links, the quality of 2G and 3G calls in all three cities, and mobile internet performance in Douala and Bafoussam. ART also reported inadequate 2G coverage along all three highway routes and gaps in 3G coverage between Yaoundé and Douala.

MTN Cameroon recorded the fewest violations. The regulator cited irregularities in equipment certification and frequency use, along with poor 2G and 3G call quality in the three cities inspected, weak mobile internet performance in Bafoussam and inadequate 2G coverage along the Yaoundé–Édéa–Douala highway.

CAMTEL Also Blamed for Deterioration of National Fiber-Optic Network

Beyond the violations identified during the inspections, ART has also held CAMTEL responsible for the deterioration of Cameroon’s national fiber-optic network. The state-owned company manages the infrastructure under its electronic communications transport concession agreement.

In 2025, the regulator began an audit of the network’s 112 sections. The infrastructure is used, among other purposes, to carry mobile operators’ communications across the country. According to ART, the audit is nearing completion.

Preliminary findings indicate that the network has deteriorated, a situation the regulator attributes to CAMTEL. ART reported recurring outages linked to installation and maintenance conditions, sections of the network that are partially unavailable, and failures affecting certain civil engineering structures and optical equipment. These problems disrupt the transmission of electronic communications and, in turn, the services mobile operators provide to their subscribers. ART estimates that the failures cost the telecom sector several billion CFA francs in lost revenue, although it did not specify how those losses are distributed among the affected companies.

CFA8.6 Billion in Fines Already Imposed in 2023 and 2025

The latest formal notices follow several rounds of financial penalties imposed on telecom operators for failing to meet network coverage and service quality requirements. On May 25, 2023, ART announced penalties totaling CFA6 billion against four operators. Orange Cameroon received a CFA2.2 billion fine, Viettel Cameroon, which operates the Nexttel brand, was fined CFA1.6 billion, MTN Cameroon received a CFA1.4 billion penalty, and CAMTEL was fined CFA800 million. The sanctions followed the April 2023 consumer protest known as “Airplane Mode,” which drew attention to poor network quality.

Two years later, in July 2025, ART imposed another CFA2.6 billion in fines on Orange Cameroon and MTN Cameroon following inspections conducted in April and May 2024. Orange was fined CFA1.6 billion, including CFA200 million for violations of pricing regulations. MTN received a CFA1 billion fine for failing to meet network coverage and service quality obligations.

Source: Business in Cameroon