Areeba denies rumours of "burning" SIM cards

Accra, Sept. 24, GNA - Scancom Ghana Limited, Operators of Areeba Mobile network on Friday denied rumours making the rounds that the company was intentionally "burning" or destroying SIM cards of their clients in order to replace them with an Areeba SIM cards at additional cost.

It said all the spacefon and Spacefon Areeba SIM cards would continue to work on the network and did not need to be replaced. Mr Haitham Maged, Marketing Manager of Areeba Ghana, who made the denial at a press briefing in Accra, said the meeting was to correct certain misconceptions making rounds on the airwaves that the company was out there to cheat subscribers.

Areeba, which currently has about 1.4 million subscribers nation-wide underwent a brand evolution that enable it to join its sister networks across Africa, Europe and the Middle East to become a single global brand.

Mr Maged said all current subscribers were automatically part of the Areeba network and would benefit from exciting new services and products, as they are introduced.

"Adopting Areeba does not mean that the spirit we built through Spacefon is forgotten. On the contrary, we will continue building on what was achieved to grow into a bigger and better brand, reflecting our new identity: Areeba"

He said, if anything at all, the company has now changed for the better because it could now take advantage of the global expertise, as well as the local know-how.

Mr Maged also announced that from Monday, September 26, 2005, the cost of replacing a SIM card that has been lost or destroyed by a client has been reduced from 50,000 cedis to 10,000 cedis. He said the reduction was to make the product affordable, simple and accessible to all, as well as bring customers greater choice and freedom.