Micael Boateng
11 August 2008
Sunyani — Concerned staff of Ghana Telecom, in the Brong-Ahafo Region, have declared their support for the GT-Vodafone partnership, arguing that if there was any time to save the company from imminent and total collapse, then it is now.
At a press conference held in Sunyani recently, the Regional Corporate Communication Manager, Akugiri Atoni Lamisi, on behalf of the staff, said the recapitalization of GT, through collaboration with Vodafone, was very timely, and in the right direction.
According to Lamisi, the partnership would benefit the GT staff, customers and the people of Ghana as a whole, therefore, the staff were giving their full support, and urged parliament to ratify the agreement, as quickly as possible.
The concerned staff of Brong-Ahafo GT said their support was not under the influence of anyone, but based on sound reasons, which have been noted from all the debates that have characterized the GT-Vodafone deal.
They stated that as one of the key stakeholders in Ghana Telecom, they deemed it fit and appropriate to clarify some of the misconceptions, and misinformation that have been put into the public domain, by those who oppose the GT-Vodafone deal, and set the records straight.
The staff defended that contrary to the perception, by those who oppose the Vodafone deal, saying the company had no experience in fibre optics and fixed line services, their checks and investigations have proved otherwise.
They revealed that Vodafone has over 10 million broadband customers, across 13 countries, served through both Vodafone-owned fibre networks, and wholesale agreements with other providers.
They continued that Vodafone managed the rollout of fibre networks in countries like Germany, where 50,000 kilometres of fibre cabling, with a further 4,000 kilometres planned in next 2-3 years; Turkey with 2,500 kilometres of fibre cabling laid since September 2007, and India with 48,000 kilometres of fibre cabling, with 26,000 kilometres laid, since Vodafone's acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May 2007, whilst a further 35,000 kilometres is planned in the next two years.
According to the concerned staff of GT, there was a limited expansion of GT's network, due to lack of capital, as compared to competitors, who are rolling out massively across the country, therefore, the timing of the deal cannot be better than any other time, due to the expected US$500 million capital injection.
"It is important to note that the survival of GT goes beyond just the capital, as it is being speculated by a section of the public," the concerned staff argued.
They explained that the current dynamics of the telecommunications business worldwide, and particularly in Ghana, makes it almost a mandatory requirement for any telecom operator, who wants to survive in the industry, to belong to an international group, due to the advantages associated with such partnerships.
The concerned staff indicated that GT, and for that matter Onetouch, was losing some of its lucrative corporate customers to competition, because it does not belong to a group, and it continued to be at risk of losing more corporate customers.
According to them, GT/Onetouch had been experiencing decline in revenues from its International Roaming Services, because MTN and Tigo, with their respective international affiliates, have negotiated traffic steering deals with major mobile operators all over the world, where all roaming traffic or calls destined for Ghana, are technically directed onto MTN and Tigo networks.
They stated that GT could not survive the impending heated competition, if the Vodafone deal fails, since all the other players are multinationals, and use their group advantage to offer higher volumes of traffic, and are able to negotiate cheaper prices to telecom carriers, who in turn direct a greater percentage of international traffic, destined for Ghana, to GT's competitors.
"We believe Vodafone has the international clout in the telecom industry worldwide, which GT can leverage on when it comes to international transactions, and compete effectively with MTN, Zain, Glo, Tigo and Kasapa, which are all multinationals," the staff asserted.
The concerned staff anticipated that the 4,200 staff of GT, risk losing their jobs and being made redundant, if the Vodafone deal fails, due to the current precarious financial situation of the company.
They disclosed that the potential market, for mobile subscribers in Ghana, has been forecasted to be 6 million for six operators to grab, and looking at the intense competition looming ahead from October to December this year, when Zain and Glo are expected to launch their services, GT/Onetouch cannot wait any longer, if it is to survive in the market.
"Otherwise by the time GT raises capital from the stock exchange, as has been suggested by some people, there will be no new customers to be acquired, and even GT's existing customers would have been taken over," the staff noted.
According to the staff, they cannot rule out the behind-the-scenes machinations by competitors in the GT-Vodafone saga, which they would be happy to see derailed, because the competitors know the entry of Vodafone into the Ghanaian market, was a big threat to their businesses.
They cited that a number of core staff have started leaving the company to competitors, and GT stands the threat of losing more, should the deal fail, however, the strategic partnership with Vodafone would offer GT staff, the opportunity of upgrading their skills, through training and technology transfer in telecommunications engineering, customer service, and IT skills training in Ghana, knowledge of new technologies, and access to training courses, and placement with other Vodafone companies.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Ghanaian Chronicle. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
