President charges MTN to address customer concerns

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the telecommunications company, MTN, to address “critical concerns” of its customers regarding affordability and quality.

He reminded MTN “of the critical concerns of Ghanaians, vis-a-vis the provision of telecommunications services, about the affordability, availability, quality, reliability and speed of the services” and urged the company to strive even harder to attain those goals.

President Akufo-Addo made the call when he launched the 25th anniversary of MTN and unveiled a new logo for the company in Accra Wednesday [June 2, 2021].

He pledged that the government would continue to collaborate with industry players to address and remove any barriers that stifled digital inclusion, adding: “I must emphasise that the healthy competition in the telecommunications sector is what engenders Innovation and better services for the people of Ghana.”

Security

He noted that going digital had security and data privacy challenges, and that the country was faced with the issue of personal data protection and cyber attacks, and that to address those issues, the government had instituted the right cyber security and data protection laws to sustain the quality of experience in the use of digital services.

President Akufo-Addo announced that the government was embarking on an ambitious National Broadband infrastructure development programme for the ICT sector to provide total connectivity for the unserved and under-served communities.

He added that a rural telephony and digital inclusion project was being rolled out and 216 solar-powered cell sites across the country also being constructed to provide voice and data connectivity for millions of rural dwellers and to facilitate national roaming too.

Digital economy

The President commended MTN for being a responsible corporate body by ensuring expeditious payment of its assessed taxes and congratulated it again on the awards received from the Ghana Revenue Authority, including the Commissioner-General's special and platinum awards for the prompt settlement of taxes.

COVID-19

He expressed appreciation to MTN for its contribution of PPE, vaccines and other COVID-19-related relief items to support government's efforts to contain the pandemic, adding: “I acknowledge also your support for the Ghana Cares Obantanpa programme, which seeks to revamp our post-COVID-19 economy.”

Start Up, Museum

President Akufo-Addo indicated that through the Accra Digital Centre, government was providing modern commercial office spaces for ICT businesses and BPOs, as well as train the youth in start-up businesses.

He charged MTN to invest in promoting start-ups, reducing the gender digital divide and stimulating the vibrant technology space.

The President further asked the telecommunications giant to work with the sector ministry and the industry to establish the Telecommunications Museum to chronicle and showcase Ghana's development and achievements in that sector because “the nation has a story to tell”.

Risk

The Minister of Communications and Digitisation, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said although the industry was a capital intensive one, MTN had braved the odds and invested, taken risks and pioneered a lot of innovations when others had hesitated.

She said those investments had paid off, saying that from a distant third in 1996, MTN was now number one on the Ghanaian market.

The Communications and Digitisation Minister gave an assurance that the government would continue to create an enabling environment and provide favourable incentives to grow the digital ecosystem.

Mrs Oqusu-Ekuful congratulated MTN, its stakeholders and subscribers, agents and all those in the ecosystem who had enabled their work and the industry to thrive.

She said for those who did not believe that the sector was important, the COVID-19 lockdowns had proved how indispensable telecommunications infrastructure was globally; saying it was also a reminder of the untapped digital opportunities that were available.

She said the government was looking forward to greater industry collaboration and partnerships with MTN to move the Ghanaian local market into the forefront of the African market.