Togo’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP) has fined Togocom XOF2.3 billion (USD3.7 million) – or 2% of the telco’s certified revenues – for ‘serious breaches of its obligation’ to provide a continuous, uninterrupted mobile service. The penalty comes roughly 18 months after the regulator warned Togocom of its obligations and just days after a recent meeting (23 June) in which the operator failed to convince ARCEP in its defence – unconvincingly blaming external factors for the disruptions and breakdown of services. In its ruling, ARCEP noted that the outages ‘could have been avoided since they were not cases of force majeure,’ adding that Togocom’s ‘inability to improve the availability of its services is due to inefficient operational actions and weak investments in network infrastructure over the past two years.’ Furthermore, the watchdog accused the mobile operator of voluntarily interrupting its services ‘in some remote parts of the country at specific times of the day with the sole purpose of cutting its operating costs without any concern for consumers’. Togocom has six months to rectify the situation or face further sanctions.