Help telcos protect fibre cables - Vodafone CEO urges public

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Ghana, Ms Yolanda Cuba, has called on the public to help protect the fibre optic cables of the various telecom companies to prevent thieves from stealing them.

“Yes, the cables belong to the telcos but they are public goods and we all benefit,” she said, adding that “we all depend on it and, therefore, any disruption in service through any form of tampering with the cables will negatively impact service delivery,” she said.

Ms Cuba gave the advice at a special luncheon in Accra at the weekend with a cross section of journalists with special interest in reporting ICT. It also formed part of the company’s 10th anniversary celebrations.

She said the telcos, and Vodafone in particular, was poised to ensure quality service at all times; hence, the heavy investments in infrastructure such as the laying of fibre optic cables in all parts of the country.

“It costs a lot of money to lay fibre cables and those investments are to ensure reliable and undisrupted service at all times,” she said.

According to her, the company, in spite of the disruptions, would not relent in its bid to ensure that the quality of service was not compromised through the activities of persons who tamper with the cables.

Read Also: Vodafone launches fibre broadband in Kumasi

Listing on local bourse

In answering questions about when the company would be ready to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Ms Cuba said Vodafone was in the process of resolving all outstanding financial issues with the government as a shareholder before the final decision was taken.

The government of Ghana holds 30 per cent shares in Vodafone Ghana. The government, under the Kufuor administration, offloaded 70 per cent of the then Ghana Telecom to Vodafone at a cost of $900 million. Since that transaction, the two have been working to ensure clarity in the balance sheet, a move which can allow the company to go ahead with plans to list on the local bourse.

Ms Cuba said Vodafone was required by law to ensure that it met all the demands of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the GSE before it could finally launch its Initial Public Offer (IPO).

10 years on

In the next 10 years, she said the company would want to become the most formidable player in the industry by continuously offering the best quality of service to its customers.

She said there would also be more investments to offer high quality data at speeds that would constantly excite customers.

“The future looks promising and we will position ourselves to leverage every opportunity and offer our customers the best of service and products at all times,” Ms Cuba said.