MTN: We're poised to maintain our leading role

Accra, Sept. 14, GNA - Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN), the biggest mobile phone operators in Ghana, said on Friday that it was poised to maintain its leading role in the telecommunication industry by providing its subscribers with quality services and wider coverage. To achieve this, it has signed a 35 million-dollar contract with Ericsson International to provide additional state-of-the-art equipment that would enhance wider coverage and speech quality to its three million subscribers.

"Deployment of this infrastructure has started across the country beginning in the Greater Accra Region and extending throughout the country in phases," Ms Mawuena Dumor, Corporate Services Executive, MTN, said after journalists had toured three Cell Sites located at Awoshie, North Kaneshie and Abossey Okai, all in Accra.

MTN, one of the world-class telecommunication service providers, currently operates in 21 countries in Africa and Middle East including Afghanistan, Yemen, Nigeria, Uganda and Cameroon. MTN Group entered the Ghanaian market in 2006, having acquired Investcom, owners of Scancom, which was operating a mobile phone service under the names Spacefon and Areeba.

Ms Dumor said since network quality was a priority to the MTN it had taken critical steps to assess the network quality and to improve on it after entering the Ghanaian market.

"MTN has recognised that the rapid increase in Scancom's subscriber base as a result of its superior products and services require attention to network quality as a matter of urgency."

The MTN in 2006 invested 150 million dollars and 200 million dollars in 2007 for network upgrading and expansion, Ms Dumor said, adding, "two million dollars has recently been invested to optimize the efficiency of the network".

She said MTN had so far created 1,000 cell sites with over 60 per cent of them being in Accra.

"As new equipment is introduced into existing network, there will be moments of temporary disruptions before the new equipment comes on stream to operate at optimum levels." Ms Dumor said MTN would arm the public with information about issues outside the control of its operations that could affect network quality.

During the tour, Messer Philip Bonney and James Kumah, Radio and Transmission Engineers, took the media through the processes of how calls are processed. 14 Sept. 0