Telecom Operators Gang Up Against AMA

Telecom operators in the Accra metropolis have stuck to their guns not to pay the increased Business Operating Permit fee set by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) this year. The operators say they will resist any attempt by the Assembly to impose what they describe as unwarranted fees on them.

The six telecom companies are Ghana Telecom (GT), Western Telesystems Limited (Westel), Scancom (Spacefon), Millicom Ghana Limited (Mobitel), Celltell and Capital Telecom.

The Managing Director of Celltell, Robert Palitz says the AMA cannot appropriately set a flat fee for some organizations and companies whilst it calculates ours on lines and turnovers.

Lawyers of the operators have written a strongly worded letter to the assembly stating their opinion on the stand-off between the two groups. The letter said that neither turnover nor any business data such as lines constitutes a permitted basis for any fees that the AMA wants to impose on them.

The letter, copied to the Minister of Communications and Technology, the Acting Director General of the National Communications Authority and the Chief of Staff, Office of the President advised operators not to comply with any such request.

This is believed to have infuriated AMA which is looking for any means necessary to collect its fees. But the telecom operators have also resolved that until they find a workable solution to the problem, they would not pay.