Industry News

Vodafone Ghana has launched a product designed to bring the spice back into the Ghanaian family all year round.

Known as ‘Vodafone One Family”, it is the only unique converged prepaid service in Ghana for the entire family, providing broadband at home, voice minutes for your landline and mobile as well as SMS allocations for up to 4 mobile devices.

The service also allows customers to pair and share data from their broadband data at home with up to four (4) mobile devices depending on the type of package selected.

Vodafone believes that the lives of its customers are more connected now than ever before. Staying in touch with the family has now become an integral part of daily lives, either at home or on the go.

Vodafone One Family, therefore, brings all these together by giving the family one seamless connection across data, voice and fixed, in a convenient way.

Commenting, Patricia Obo-Nai, Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana said “what we have done is in direct response to the specific needs of our customers who continue to push us to attain further heights of excellence in our offerings. This new product offers total convenience and flexibility, connecting the entire family at one go. There is no better time than now to get connected to your family every day. We are happy to be setting the pace once again in the industry”

Vodafone Customers can subscribe or upgrade their existing packages by using the self-care portal via https://fbb.vodafone.com.gh/planchange.php, MyVodafone App on Google Play and App store or by dialling *900# on any Vodafone mobile number.

New customers can apply for Vodafone One Family using the following touchpoints: walk into any Retail Shop nationwide, or apply online by visiting https://fbb.vodafone.com.gh/ or through any of our Sales Agents.

 

Source: Myjoyonline.com

The Chief Executive Officer of AirtelTigo, Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi, says the company’s brand promise to its customers is to be the mobile technology partner that allows customers to benefit from innovative but simple solutions to live better.

With its tagline “Life is Simple”, Mrs Ng’ambi explained that: “We recognize that customers’ needs are changing with time. In this regard, we want to make life simple for our customers and businesses through our innovative products and services.”

She disclosed this during a courtesy call on the management of the company by the Network of Communication Reporters (NCR) at its headquarters in Accra.

Mrs. Ng’ambi shared with excitement the growth journey that the company is on, saying “the company is focusing on continued network expansion for improved customer experience, AirtelTigo Money also known as ‘ATM” and AirtelTigo Business which caters for small and large businesses.”

Mrs. Ng’ambi also cited examples of how AirtelTigo is living up to its brand promise. One such example is the first ever data bundle with no expiry in Ghana, “Big Time Data” which gives unbeatable value to customers. She committed that AirtelTigo will continue to offer such innovative products and services to demonstrate the brand’s promise.

Discussing some of the challenges faced by the company and industry, she said: “Good network experience is a key priority for us and as such the rise in the number of fibre cuts across the country is a major concern. We are experiencing 3 times the number of disruptions than we were experiencing this same time last year. This is significant.”

“When a fibre cut occurs it impacts the connection that our customers have to the network. We try as much as possible to restore service timeously, but the reality is that for every restoration that we undertake there’s a significant cost attached to this. From January up to today we have spent in the millions of Ghanaian cedis to repair our infrastructure that is damaged by third parties. Of course, it’s a concern to us because these are monies that could rather be reinvested in other areas of the network as opposed to the restoration of service.”

The Dean of the Network of Communication Reporters (NCR), Charles Benoni Okine, congratulated the CEO on her one-year anniversary, adding that the visit formed part of efforts by the NCR to engage key stakeholders in the telecom industry.

He explained that the NCR is a group of business and financial journalists who are more interested in writing business news focused on the telecommunications industry and that the interaction with the AirtelTigo leadership team gave NCR an opportunity to understand issues relating to its operations and plans to ensure better service for customers.

“Interaction such as this, is good for us because it allows us to better understand industry issues so that when we are reporting we do so from an informed standpoint. That’s one of the major reasons why we called on you.”

He also urged players in the telecommunications and financial services industry to continuously tighten their procedures and systems to help eliminate the growing incidence of cyber crime in the country. He pledged the commitment of the network to play its advocacy role to ensure that the sector contributed its quota in a much bigger way towards the development of the economy.

Source: AirtelTigo

African operator group MTN hit back at claims its major shareholder was looking for changes to the board, stating the original report carried unsubstantiated rumours and inaccuracies.

Bloomberg reported South Africa’s Public Investment Corp (PIC), which owns 26 per cent of MTN, wanted change following regulatory, legal and political disputes which have impacted the company’s operations, particularly in Nigeria.

Among its requests was the replacement of chairman Phuthuma Nhleko and a reorganisation of the board.

However, MTN said that “contrary to what the story alleges”, PIC requested it extended Nhleko’s term longer than originally intended, until 15 December, to ensure an orderly hand-over to designated successor Mcebisi Jonas.

Also under debate was the role of MTN’s International Advisory Board (IAB), which Bloomberg described as a “council of wise old men, who can directly contact lawmakers and decision makers in the countries where MTN operates”.

In a statement, MTN said the primary purpose of the group is “to provide general global and/or sector specific perspectives that may enrich the perspectives of the operating company’s board as it strives to contribute to certain areas of development in the countries in which it operates”.

The group was “conceptualised” before PIC increased its shareholding in MTN, it stated.

MTN previously said the IAB “is a non-statutory entity comprised of selected members” which doesn’t perform any “fiduciary duties nor does it assume any accountability for the publicly quoted entity”.

“IAB will not opine on any matters that have to do with the operations of the business.”

It is headed by Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa.

 

Source: mobileworldlive

MTN Ghana has begun the 10th-anniversary celebration of its Mobile Money (MoMo) service.

As part of the celebration, the telecom giant is offering for grab, several amazing prizes to its customers.

Notable among the prizes are 10 cars, Samsung televisions and smartphones.

At the launch of the celebration on Thursday, June 6, 2019, at the Madina Market in Accra, over 25 MoMo customers were selected randomly and each rewarded with Gh¢ 500.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, General Manager of MTN MoMo, Eli Hini, highlighted the immense economic impacts that the service has offered to the general public over the last 10 years.

He disclosed that from the days of skepticisms about the safety of financial transactions through MoMo, members of the public have come to embrace the service.

He noted that customers have used the service for getting loans, payment of pensions, insurance, and general financial transactions.

According to him, MTN Ghana expected MoMo to be the preferred payment channel to do any financial transactions in the future.

MoMo Journey

The MoMo service began with MTN’s desire to get the Mobile phone to go beyond the ordinary, he said.

The Company went through discussions and deliberations with technology experts, industry regulators and stakeholders, Mr. Hini revealed.

MTN began working on MoMO and started testing the system ahead of the launch.

“Per our records the very first successful the transaction was done by a staff of MTN on 25th Sept 2008 at 3:51 pm. Here are a few interesting records: First merchant MTN Graphic Rd Branch, i.e. 13th October 2008 First Bank Branch Merchant Ecobank Silver Star Branch, 11th Dec 2008 First External Merchant Aki Micro Trading Ent, 15th July 2009,” according to him.
He said, “We officially launched the service on July 21st, 2009 with the Governor of the Bank of Ghana at the time Paul Acquah and with Bruno Akpaka our first General Manager.”

From less than 100,000 after 6months of launch, he said, MoMo’s registered subscriber numbers have reached the 14 million milestones over the 10 year period.

He said MoMo started with nine partner banks and now working closely with 18 partner banks.

“Our agents are around 124, 000. By the end of quarter one of 2019, we recorded 411million transactions on the MoMo platform,” he said.

He added that “We are actively promoting financial growth. Between 2016 and 2018 we made Gh¢ 139million cedis Interest Payments to over 10 million customers.”

However, Mr. Hini observed some challenges with MoMo, notable among them being a fraud.

The General Manager has therefore encouraged MoMo users to be more security conscious.

He indicated that the management of MTN Ghana would work to improve upon security of the service.

“Bottom line is that we will continue to improve the service,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, expressed optimism about the future of MoMo.

He said, “the future is bright with Mobile Money and I look forward to be on that journey with you.”

Source: Ghanaweb

Vodafone Chief Executive, Patricia Obo-Nai, has pledged the company’s commitment to the socio-economic development of Ghana.

During a courtesy call on President Akufo-Addo, at the Jubilee House, Patricia reinforced Vodafone’s determination to lead the digitalisation drive in Ghana, ensuring that no one is left behind.

She said Ghana remained a very important market for the global telecoms giant and Vodafone Ghana will play an integral role, in the nation’s growth agenda.

Patricia was appointed CEO following the end of the tenure of the previous Chief Executive Officer, Yolanda Cuba. Her appointment comes with Vodafone’s drive to push the boundaries of innovation, especially for targeted customers whilst positioning Vodafone as a key challenger in the market.
Patricia told the President that: “Ghana will continue to be very important to our long-term strategy and aspirations. Our brand promise of delivering an exciting future continues to drive our awareness and leadership in new trends in digitalisation and technology such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.

“Again. Government’s agenda in the mobile payments sector has been nothing short of impressive and as a leading telco, we are committed to deploying our platform, innovative products and services in support of government’s agenda.”
The new CEO was appreciative of government’s commitment to Vodafone Ghana as a 30% shareholder and was optimistic that with the current level of commitment from both the ministries of Finance and Communications, Vodafone Ghana has no choice but to grow in market share and other areas of operation.

The Board Chairman of Vodafone Ghana, Dr Kobina Quansah, was appreciative of the opportunity to meet with the President and to introduce the new CEO to him.

He was confident of Vodafone Ghana’s readiness to be more competitive in the market, given the current strong working relationship between the two shareholders – Vodafone Group (70%) and the government (30%).

The President expressed appreciation for the visit, adding that government as a shareholder in the company, will support Vodafone Ghana to ensure that the company becomes more profitable and successful.
He spoke about government’s determination to deploy technology in various areas of the economy in a way that adds value and enhances efficiency. He encouraged Vodafone to come out with solutions that will ensure that it is a worthy partner of government in this regard.

Present at the meeting were the company’s Board Chairman, Kobina Quansah, Director for External Affairs, Gayheart Mensah and a Deputy Chief of Staff at the Presidency, John Jinapor.

 

Source: myjoyonline

Huawei expressed a desire to use European partnerships as a model for a new cybersecurity collaboration in the US, but said it is yet to make contact with the relevant security agencies.

Jeff Nan, a senior expert on cybersecurity and privacy protection affairs at Huawei, told journalists the company hasn’t yet replicated security monitoring schemes it has in place in the UK and Germany because the US government hasn’t given it the opportunity.

“We’d like to establish the scheme just like the UK Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, but we need to communicate with the security agencies in the US government. If the government would like to do this, Huawei definitely would like to do this.”

Nan said such a partnership would allow Huawei to address specific concerns the US government has about its products. But, as things stand, he added the company has little to work with in the way of detailed complaints.

While the US National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed many security standards, he noted the government hasn’t used any of those to conduct an objective assessment of Huawei’s products.

Security set-up

Martin Wang, director of Huawei’s cybersecurity lab, shed light on Huawei’s rigorous internal testing regime, noting each component of a given product undergoes a risk assessment before being subjected to hundreds of tests.

For instance, he noted a total of 1,114 test cases were run on 4G RAN equipment to detect and mitigate vulnerabilities before it received approval for launch. He added there is a particular focus on privacy testing for Huawei’s consumer devices, with 1,724 out of 2,587 test cases run on its Mate smartphone line focused on privacy.

Despite the company’s struggles in the US and widely publicised questions about the integrity of Huawei’s systems, Wang said morale among his team remains high.

“In any circumstances we will focus on our job and our responsibility, and this is how we cope with external challenges.”

 

Source: mobileworldlive

Bharti Airtel confirmed a listing of its African unit on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), with aims to raise $750 million.

In a filing, Airtel said it would offer at least 25 per cent of its shares in Airtel Africa, using the proceeds to pay down debt.

It will have an option to float a further 15 per cent through an over-allotment.

Airtel added the number of shares to be offered will be determined in “due course” and, following admission to trading, the company’s net debt to EBITDA ratio will stand at 2.5.

Confirmation of the long-awaited listing was expected after the operator filed formal papers with the LSE last week, although details were sparse at the time. Reuters estimated the company could look to raise at least $1 billion from the unit.

Airtel Africa has a mobile money and telecoms footprint across 14 countries in Africa and raised $1.25 billion in funding in late 2018, augmenting an additional $200 million from the Qatar Investment Authority.

In October 2018, the company said the cash would be used to cut its $5 billion debt pile.

The company is also reportedly lining up a listing in Nigeria.

 

Source: mobileworldlive

Nokia revealed it had 42 commercial 5G deals in place with operators, more than any other vendor has announced, as the pace of the technology’s rollout progresses.

In a statement, the Finnish vendor said 22 of the 42 commercial deals were with named customers including T-Mobile US, Telia and SoftBank.

It noted early 5G rollouts in North America, South Korea and Europe as driving the uptake, and said it expects to announce more deals in emerging nations and areas including India and Latin America over the coming months.

The company’s latest progress update follows an announcement at the end of March, when it said it had 30 commercial 5G contracts. Since then, Nokia said it had won an average of one major contract each week, “with a steady pipeline in place for further agreements”.

Nokia talked up its 5G portfolio as a reason behind its progress so far, adding it believes, cumulatively, it has a “higher share with these customers in 5G than we did in 4G”.

CEO Rajeev Suri (pictured) said that through the transition from 4G to 5G, it was “Nokia’s time to shine”.

“The pace of 5G progress is accelerating across the globe. We are delivering significant performance increases to operators and the power of Nokia’s end-to-end portfolio is being recognised,” he added.

Nokia competes with rival vendors including Ericsson and Huawei for 5G contracts.

However, with Huawei’s security struggles continuing to grow, there is an opportunity for the European companies to capitalise. Huawei CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei said last week a US export ban will reduce a two-year lead it believes it has over Nokia and Ericsson in the next-generation technology.

 

Source: mobileworldlive

MTN Ghana on Monday officially opened its staff volunteering programme dubbed “21 Days of Y’ello Care” to undertake activities that would empower the youth to make positive impacts on society.

The 2019 programme on the theme, “Creating a Brighter Future for Our Youth” commenced on June 1 and expected to end on June 21.

The programme is expected to benefit about 330 unemployed youth, and would include activities such as skills training on bead making, hair-dressing, make-up arts and construction works.

Beneficiaries would also be trained on digital marketing, customer care services, financial management, Information Technology and Entrepreneurship skills.

The programme would also empower and inspire inmates of the Senior Correctional Centres and Rehabilitation Centres to identify their capabilities and work towards achieving them.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana who launched the programme said there was the need for Corporate entities to empower the youth with employable skills.

He explained that the ‘21 Days of Y’ello Care’ was a challenge within the MTN Group, therefore, for MTN Ghana to win the threshold, it needed 95 per cent of staff participation and a 100 per cent Excom participation.

“Undoubtedly, we all have a critical role to play. We will have to commit to translating our hopes into reality and show up as volunteers,” he said.

The CEO advised staff of the telecom company to dedicate time for the programme to make it a fulfilling and inspiring one for the citizenry.

Mr Emmanuel Asigri, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority commended MTN for the step it had taken to empower the youth, adding that, the decision to partner the NYA was laudable and gave the assurance that it would be fruitful.

He said reducing the rate of unemployment especially among the youth was not a sole responsibility of government but also that of private entities, and encouraged other private bodies to help create more jobs for the youth.

Source: GNA

Vodafone Ghana as part of its commitment to empower women and fight domestic violence, has donated a cheque of GH¢5,000.00 to the Ghana Ark Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation that provides shelter for abused victim.

The donation was in response to the Foundation’s call for support to enable it reopen and run its shelter.

A statement from Vodafone Ghana to the Ghana News Agency explained that the shelter, which had become a safe haven for victims of domestic violence, was closed down in December 2016, due to lack of funds.

Presenting the cheque to the Foundation, Madam Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, the Human Resource Director at Vodafone Ghana, said: “Our commitment to fighting domestic violence goes beyond the walls of our organisation.

“We are particularly interested in the role your Foundation plays in housing and reintegrating victims of domestic abuse especially women and children. A victim’s condition worsens when they continue to stay at the place of violence because they have nowhere else to go,” the statement said.

Madam Akrong according to the statement said at Vodafone, the staff believed domestic violence had a significant impact on people at work, affecting confidence, self-esteem and career progression.

She said that brought about the launching of a Group-wide policy to protect and offer support for victims.

Mrs Angela Dwamena Boakye, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, who received the cheque, expressed gratitude to Vodafone Ghana for the gesture, the statement said.

“Your commitment to fighting domestic violence is unquestionable. This donation will certainly help in the reopening and running of the shelter, which we had to close down due to lack of funds,” she said.

The statement disclosed that Vodafone as part of its steps to fight domestic violence had set up a 24-hour hotline service, which employees with issues in relation to domestic violence could call for help.

It said employees who had been victimised also had up to 10 days of paid leave in any calendar year for medical appointments, legal proceedings and other related domestic violence activities.

Source: GNA