The Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited (GhanaTelecom) has proposed an upward adjustment of between 36 and 40 percent in tariff.
The proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Transport and Communications for approval. However sources close to the company said in an interview that as part of efforts by the company said in an interview that a part of efforts by the company to complement government' effort at encouraging private investment in the provision of Internet services the proposed rate for Internet operators are lower.
The percentage increase was not disclosed. It said the adjustment in tariffs would enable the company to meet its operational cost and also be in a better position to expand its network to support the increase is demand for its service.
The proposed increase in tariffs comes barely a month after the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC) approved new rates for the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The source said the company's charge of 200 cedis for every four minutes of call on its fixed phones for instance is inadequate adding that the continuous charge of that low rate would prevent the company from meeting is target.
Earlier at a mini durbar of workers during a working visit of the sector minister, Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, to the company the Managing Director of the company, Mr Dato Malek Mohamed said he company has embarked on an expansion project to increase it GSM switch capacity from 70,000 to 100,000 next month.
This will enable the company to hook 10,000 more customers to its cellular phone service (One-Touch) He said additional cell site and base stations are being mounted in various parts of the country to enable the subscribers to enjoy quality reception.
It would be recalled that due to the shortage of the company's One Touch service dealers have taken advantage of the shortage to sell a prepaid line for between 500,000 and 1million to anxious customers. Mr Mohamed said the company is working round the clock to extend the service to the entire country by the middle of next year and give the assurance that inaccessible areas will now benefit from the GSM payphone units.
He mentioned the company's fibre Optic submarine cable project which would improve a more reliable option to its earth satellite station. Mr Owusu-Adjapong on his part said the 200,000 lines in the system at the moment fall short of the government's requirement and challenged the company to double its efforts at reaching about one million lines in the next couple of years.
On the tariff the minister said the ministry will announce the new rates this week.
