Ghana Telecom (GT), the only Ghanaian owned telecommunication network in Ghana, has called for collective support from all Ghanaians to assist in the fight against cable theft.

The call was made by the Central Regional Manager of GT, Mr Joseph Tinagyei-Gyimah at a press soiree in Cape Coast on Thursday.

According to Mr Tinagyei-Gyimah, even though thecompany has worked on a 100% revenue collection strategy in the past years, the cable theft menace hash indered their efforts in providing efficient and uninterrupted services to its clients.

He disclosed that the activities of cable thieves did not only tarnish the image of the company but also rendered a huge economic loss to the state,indicating that in 2006, GT lost GH¢ 460,000 as a result of cable thefts.

He added that the company was working in collaboration with the police to track down cable thieves and commended the police for its effort in minimizing the menace.

He further revealed that GT had experienced growth in its customer base with the introduction of the high speed internet Broadband services.

He added that the GT internet service would soon be extended to Sunyani, which is currently the only regional capital without the service. The service would later move to 20 district capitals by the beginning of the second quarter of 2008.

The head of corporate communication and customer care, Major (retired) Albert B. Don-Chebe, revealed that government has suspended the offloading of 66% shares of 100% it owned in the company to strategic investors owing to low bidding.

Don-Chebe said, France Telecom offered US$520 million but was rejected because the asset of GT was worth more than that.

He however said the government was ready to re-open the bid to any bidder that would satisfy the expectations of the Ghana government.

Maj. Don-Chebe also noted that, GT has over 1.4 million mobile phone subscribers indicating that the company had more fixed lines than any other telecommunication company in Ghana.

On cable theft, he added that the company has spent GH¢ 30,000 (¢ 30 million) as reward package to some people in the various districts for leaking information leading to the arrest of cable thieves.

He therefore implored the public to endeavour to volunteer information to the law enforcement agencies in order to help apprehend perpetrators of the menace.