MTN invests US$260 million in network infrastructure

Accra, Sept. 18, GNA - Ms. Mawuena Dumor, Corporate Service Executive of MTN Ghana, on Thursday re-emphasised the company's commitment to improving network quality, saying between January to June 2008 alone, it had injected US$260 million into network infrastructure.

"As part of the comprehensive network improvement initiative, MTN Ghana rolled out 483 new Base Transmitter Stations (BTS) within the period under review," she told journalists in Accra.

She noted that the newly added on cell sites brought the number of cell sites MTN had added on to what it inherited from the former network operator to more than 1,200. Ms Dumor said in 2007 alone the company sited 718 new cell sites across the country, adding that the figure was likely to go higher for 2008. She said in spite of the challenges involved in obtaining as many as 3,650 permits in a year from five state agencies to site cell sites across the country, MTN continued to diligently focus on injecting a greater part of its investment capital into network improvement.

"Before we site one cell site we have to take permits from five state organisations and also go through the challenges of the landownership system in some cases, but we have not and will not relent in our effort to satisfy our customers," she said.

Asked how MTN was preparing for the coming competition, she said the company would continue to focus on improving the network quality in the urban areas and coverage in the rural areas.

Ms Dumor called on subscribers to be more specific when the made reports of network challenges they faced, as that helped the company to ascertain the exact cause and address them properly.