EDITORIAL: Kumasi Hit By SATS

Kumasi's prominence in Ghana is only superceded by Accra (only because it is the capital), and in only certain respects. Culture and economic activities coupled with strategic location make Kumasi stand out as a very significant nerve center in Ghana.

The Ashanti Kingdom, with the Asantehene as the embodiment of its soul has Kumasi as its capital. Administratively, Kumasi is also the capital of the Ashanti Region. Kumasi has become a must visit for many visiting dignitaries to Ghana. Until the last decade or so, when Kumasi started losing its sheen, it was the "Garden City of West Africa." Graduates of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi proudly hold up their alma mater as the greatest in the country and supporters of Asante Kotoko regard Kumasi as their spiritual capital!

But in recent times, this great city has become a deaf-mute in the ether. It's been plagued by problems that can be described as "Severe Acute Telecommunications Sickness" (SATS) leading some of the city's residents to threaten demonstrations if their phones remained deaf and mute much longer. They have complained of experiencing no dial tone when they require Ghana Telecom services while others have complained of their inability to access other subscribers etc. In modern commerce and business, pure telecommunications mean only one thing: waste of time and Kumasi based business people are indignant.

ADM has been piecing things together and last Thursday sent Kent Mensah, a reporter, to the Garden City to find out what is wrong and what is being done. He reported that much is wrong and much is being done. After decades of haphazard management, Kumasi is now suffering from the headaches of the bad engineering practices of yesteryear.

Originally the main elements of telephony in Kumasi (switching, control and signaling) were centralized in Adum (that place near STC), so matters concerning telephony radiated from the Adum head office of Ghana Telecom to subscribers in the Kumasi metropolis. It was like putting all your eggs in one basket.

Two switches at Adum combine to supply telephone services to twenty thousand (20, 000) subscribers: fifteen thousand (15,000) on an old Fetex switch and five thousand (5000) from a relatively new Alcatel switch.

The problems mentioned above and associated ones are attributable to overloading of some circuits on the relatively new Alcatel switch at Adum which causes telephone blackouts and brownouts for some one thousand and five hundred (1500) subscribers connected to this switch.

Overloading on the old Fetex switch also at Adum creates problems for some fifteen thousand (15,000) subscribers connected to it.

Kumasi also controls Konongo, Obuasi, Bekwai and Dunkwa.

A vigorous plan is underway to resolve these problems in the short term, presumably by the end of the third quarter, and in the long term by the end of the year. Kumasi is now in the process of enjoying the benefits and attributes of distributed exchange organization. From a monolithic telephone superstructure in Adum, Kumasi is now about to experience a 'decentralisation' of its telephone exchanges. New exchanges equipped with Alcatel switches (of 5000 subscribers capacity each) have been built at UST, Buokrom and Tanoso to augment the main exchange at Adum.

The uniformity of this eventual transition to only Alcatel switches offer additional benefits in maintenance, management and specialization.

With the completion of these projects by the end of the third quarter, Kumasi is expected to have its subscriber lines increased by a net of 35,000 lines (this takes due cognizance of the fact that the old Fetex switch is to be decommissioned and the Alcatel switch at Adum upgraded to 40,000 lines).

ADM was told by a consultant that "Work is ongoing and a multi prong approach has been adopted." This, according to the consultant means that some results will be available before the end of the third quarter, thus enabling "a step by step relief till the end of this period." For instance, he said, Alcatel has been working on the main switch at Adum and is starting to redistribute the subscribers constituting the overload on the switch to the new modules it has installed.

Within June, public payphones are expected to be moved from the old Fetex switch to the expanded part of the Alcatel; this measure is expected to reduce the congestion on the Fetex switch till it is eventually decommissioned.

In July, ADM was told, "work is expected to commence on moving subscribers on the Fetex switch to the new expanded part of the Alcatel switch. The basic identity of the subscribers, that is, the telephone number is expected to be maintained. Work on decongestion and other technical matters are running concurrently with these solutions and it is hoped and expected that by the end of the third quarter an important telecommunications hub in Ghana - Kumasi - will be brought fully online. That day would be a cause for a major durbar at Manhyia!

Kumasi's prominence in Ghana is only superceded by Accra (only because it is the capital), and in only certain respects. Culture and economic activities coupled with strategic location make Kumasi stand out as a very significant nerve center in Ghana.

The Ashanti Kingdom, with the Asantehene as the embodiment of its soul has Kumasi as its capital. Administratively, Kumasi is also the capital of the Ashanti Region. Kumasi has become a must visit for many visiting dignitaries to Ghana. Until the last decade or so, when Kumasi started losing its sheen, it was the "Garden City of West Africa." Graduates of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi proudly hold up their alma mater as the greatest in the country and supporters of Asante Kotoko regard Kumasi as their spiritual capital!

But in recent times, this great city has become a deaf-mute in the ether. It's been plagued by problems that can be described as "Severe Acute Telecommunications Sickness" (SATS) leading some of the city's residents to threaten demonstrations if their phones remained deaf and mute much longer. They have complained of experiencing no dial tone when they require Ghana Telecom services while others have complained of their inability to access other subscribers etc. In modern commerce and business, pure telecommunications mean only one thing: waste of time and Kumasi based business people are indignant.

ADM has been piecing things together and last Thursday sent Kent Mensah, a reporter, to the Garden City to find out what is wrong and what is being done. He reported that much is wrong and much is being done. After decades of haphazard management, Kumasi is now suffering from the headaches of the bad engineering practices of yesteryear.

Originally the main elements of telephony in Kumasi (switching, control and signaling) were centralized in Adum (that place near STC), so matters concerning telephony radiated from the Adum head office of Ghana Telecom to subscribers in the Kumasi metropolis. It was like putting all your eggs in one basket.

Two switches at Adum combine to supply telephone services to twenty thousand (20, 000) subscribers: fifteen thousand (15,000) on an old Fetex switch and five thousand (5000) from a relatively new Alcatel switch.

The problems mentioned above and associated ones are attributable to overloading of some circuits on the relatively new Alcatel switch at Adum which causes telephone blackouts and brownouts for some one thousand and five hundred (1500) subscribers connected to this switch.

Overloading on the old Fetex switch also at Adum creates problems for some fifteen thousand (15,000) subscribers connected to it.

Kumasi also controls Konongo, Obuasi, Bekwai and Dunkwa.

A vigorous plan is underway to resolve these problems in the short term, presumably by the end of the third quarter, and in the long term by the end of the year. Kumasi is now in the process of enjoying the benefits and attributes of distributed exchange organization. From a monolithic telephone superstructure in Adum, Kumasi is now about to experience a 'decentralisation' of its telephone exchanges. New exchanges equipped with Alcatel switches (of 5000 subscribers capacity each) have been built at UST, Buokrom and Tanoso to augment the main exchange at Adum.

The uniformity of this eventual transition to only Alcatel switches offer additional benefits in maintenance, management and specialization.

With the completion of these projects by the end of the third quarter, Kumasi is expected to have its subscriber lines increased by a net of 35,000 lines (this takes due cognizance of the fact that the old Fetex switch is to be decommissioned and the Alcatel switch at Adum upgraded to 40,000 lines).

ADM was told by a consultant that "Work is ongoing and a multi prong approach has been adopted." This, according to the consultant means that some results will be available before the end of the third quarter, thus enabling "a step by step relief till the end of this period." For instance, he said, Alcatel has been working on the main switch at Adum and is starting to redistribute the subscribers constituting the overload on the switch to the new modules it has installed.

Within June, public payphones are expected to be moved from the old Fetex switch to the expanded part of the Alcatel; this measure is expected to reduce the congestion on the Fetex switch till it is eventually decommissioned.

In July, ADM was told, "work is expected to commence on moving subscribers on the Fetex switch to the new expanded part of the Alcatel switch. The basic identity of the subscribers, that is, the telephone number is expected to be maintained. Work on decongestion and other technical matters are running concurrently with these solutions and it is hoped and expected that by the end of the third quarter an important telecommunications hub in Ghana - Kumasi - will be brought fully online. That day would be a cause for a major durbar at Manhyia!