David Alan Painstil
13 August 2008
Cape Coast — Workers of the Central Regional branch of Ghana Telecom (GT), on Tuesday, embarked on peaceful demonstration, in support of government's intended sale of 70 % shares of the company to Vodafone Plc.
They carried placards some of which read, "We are ready for Vodafone;" "Stop politicising the sale of GT;" "Vodafone can look after us;" "We welcome Vodafone and we support Vodafone deal for total growth, good decision, good governance."
Speaking after the demonstration, Samuel Fiakye Amporful, Elmina and Cape Coast Area Manager of GT and acting regional manager, said GT lacked the capital to make company operations more efficient, as compared to other competitors, who are expanding at a faster rate across the country.
"No wonder Onetouch has moved from number one, in December 2000, to three in the mobile industry, therefore the timing of the GT-Vodafone deal, cannot be better than any other time, due to the expected US$500 million capital injection," he said.
He added that the quality of service, provided by GT (Onetouch) to its customers, was not up to standard, according to the last National Communications Authority (NCA) ratings, explaining that GT needed new equipment and spare parts to solve those network quality problems, to maintain its customers and attract more.
According to Amporful, some of GT's billing and switching systems, were currently inefficient, leading to leakages in revenue, therefore, there was the need to replace and overhaul the system with state of the art equipment, which they believed Vodafone had the capacity to provide, in order to maximize revenue generation.
"It is important to note that the survival of GT goes beyond just the capital, as was being speculated by a section of the public.
"The current dynamics of 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 advantages associated with such partnerships," he said.
Koforidua
Isaac Akwetey also reports from Koforidua that concerned workers of Ghana Telecom (GT) in the Eastern Region have joined their counterparts across the breadth and length of the country to drum home their demand and support for the GT and Vodafone partnership, which they describe as the best deal ever that would save the company.
They explained that limited expansion of GT network due to lack of capital as compared to other competitors who are rolling out massively across the country could kick the company out of business. The timing of GT and Vodafone deal cannot be better than any other time due to the expected US$500 million capital injection, they argued.
Speaking to media personnel here in Koforidua last Monday, on behalf of the workers, the Regional Manager (RM), Mr. Nii Amarh Fleischer- Brock called on the government and parliament to facilitate the process of selling the company.
According to him, GT would lose its customers to other competitors in the mobile telephony industry, leading to the total collapse of the company, if the deal failed to go through, adding, GT cannot survive the impending heated competition if the Vodafone deal failed. Buttressing their point, the GT staff said the Onetouch network was once upon the time adjudged the best telecommunication network in the country but due to lack of capital and inability to embark on expansion, it has moved from the first position to 3rd in the December 2000 ranking in the mobile industry.
He also explained that the quality of service provided by Onetouch to its numerous customers is not up to standard according to the National Communication Authority's (NCA) ratings, indicating that the survival of GT goes beyond just the capital as been speculated by a section of the public.
Fleischer further stressed that Vodafone had the international clouts in the telecommunication industry worldwide, which GT could leverage on when it comes to international as well as compete effectively with other networks.
"The over 4200 staff of the company risk losing their jobs and being made redundant if the Vodafone deal fails due to the current precarious financial situation of the company" they noted.
The GT workers observed that, the strategic partnership of GT with Vodafone would offer GT staff the opportunity to upgrade their skills through training and technology transfer in telecommunication engineering, customer service among others.
To this end the workers indicated that, the sale of GT to Vodafone was timely and in the right direction since its collaboration would help save the company from the eminent and total collapse.
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.
