Industry News

Mobile industry body GSMA has urged European policy makers and operators to work together to safeguard the security of network infrastructure without jeopardising 5G supply chains, as concern grows over the future of vendors in major global markets.

In a statement, the association declared it is time for regulators to take “a fact-based and risk-based approach” to network security, or risk jeopardising the success of 5G rollout in Europe.

The statement comes as European authorities weigh action to block Chinese vendor Huawei from their telecommunications infrastructure amid security concerns. Huawei has strenuously denied it poses a threat.

By 2025, mobile operators are expected to invest between €300 billion and €500 billion on the roll out of 5G across Europe.

GSMA warned actions which disrupt the network equipment supply “will increase costs to European operators, businesses and citizens; delay 5G deployment by years across Europe; and potentially also jeopardise the functioning of existing 4G networks upon which 5G is intended to be built.”

Last month it was reported that Deutsche Telekom believes Europe’s 5G rollout could be delayed by at least two years if governments on the continent implement a ban on Huawei.

Along with Germany, France and Norway have also said they are considering a ban on Huawei. In the UK, Vodafone Group said in January it was pausing installation of new Huawei core network equipment across its European operations. BT previously said it would remove kit made by the vendor in mobile operator EE’s core network within two years.

No evidence of wrongdoing
While the GSMA noted extensive government and operator testing has “not discovered any evidence of wrongdoing” to date, it stated operators “stand ready to work with policy makers now to agree on further proportionate and risk-based methods, not least a common, consistent and agreed security assurance, testing and certification regime for Europe.”

The GSMA said it will build on its existing security work and is assembling a task force of European operators to identify ways to enhance and extend current schemes. It also recommends that governments and mobile operators work together to agree what this assurance testing and certification regime for Europe will be, “so that it ensures confidence in network security while maintaining competition in the supply of network equipment.”

Source: mobileworldlive.com

Uganda’s government approved proposals to sell national bonds through the country’s mobile money platforms, a policy politicians believe will increase financial inclusion and widen the country’s range of investors.

In an explanation of the scheme on social media, a Ugandan cabinet representative said it would “enhance distribution capacity” of government securities to individual investors, especially those in rural areas.

It also reduces the concentration of bonds held by international institutional investors. The value of investments set to be offered was not disclosed, nor was notification of which of the country’s mobile money platforms would participate.

The announcement follows a fractious period between the country’s authorities and mobile money providers sparked by the introduction of a controversial tax on transactions at the start of July 2018.

In the first fortnight after the taxes were imposed, the value of funds processed on platforms reportedly sank by UGX672 billion ($182 million).

Uganda’s move to sell bonds is similar to an initiative in neighbouring Kenya, where the government offered a batch of investments through Safaricom’s m-Pesa and Airtel Money platforms in 2017.

Source: mobileworldlive.com

An Ivory Coast consumer association denounced escalating taxes on mobile money transactions in the country and demanded the complete removal of the levies, Le Monde Afrique reported.

In a statement to the newspaper, Jean-Baptiste Koffi, president of the Confederation des Consommateurs de Cote d’Ivoire, said a 7.2 per cent increase in tax rates on mobile money payments and cash transfers damaged the country’s financial inclusion effort.

The federation, which represents ten different consumer groups in the country, stated that less than a fifth of consumers in Ivory Coast have access to bank accounts.

It noted the traditionally low cost of transactions using mobile money services had led to a “dynamic” industry, but the increase in government levies made it “more expensive for consumers to use an accessible service that has started to enter our habits.”

Le Monde Afrique estimates XOF15 billion ($25.8 million) is transacted through mobile money in Ivory Coast on a daily basis.

Source: mobileworldlive.com

Telecom operator AirtelTigo with its partner iSON BPO, an information technology service provider has opened a new call centre located in the Tema metropolis to offer customers a dedicated world-class service.

Boasting the latest technology, the call centre has several workstations, a training room and dedicated online support section. Operating 24-hours to serve customers nationwide, the call center is accessible by calling 100 which also offers self-service options.

In a drive for service excellence, the customer care executives that serve customers have been specially trained in soft skills and call handling techniques to resolve all customer enquiries in a timely manner.

Speaking at the launch, the Chief Executive of AirtelTigo, Mrs Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi, said the opening of the call centre is in line with the company’s vision of “making life better for customers”, adding that the facility will also provide employment opportunities to the youths in Tema and surrounding communities.

She explained that the company remains focused on continuously improving customer service and experience to support the many innovative solutions that AirtelTigo is providing its customers today.

“Our customers can look forward to many initiatives through the course of 2019 that are geared to making our service and solutions simple, transparent and relevant. With this launch today, our customers should expect to receive the most advanced customer care available in this country, supported by professional executives ready to provide excellence in customer service,” she added.

The Group CEO of iSON BPO, Mr. Pravin Kumar, said: “In line with our philosophy of bringing Intellectual Property (IP) and jobs to people rather than taking people to jobs and IP, we built and started the first-ever call centre with state-of-the-art technology at Tema in 2016 with 220 employees. We have within a short period of two years, provided world-class services and grown our employee strength to 700.”

“In view of our excellent services, we have partnered with AirtelTigo to manage their call centre service. This new call centre has state-of-the-art technology and employed over 200 executives. We are also well-equipped for skill development, workforce management and quality governance facilities.”

He further stated that the policies of the Government of Ghana have motivated the company to open discussion with large multinationals in the US to be able to get some offshore assignments to Ghana. “We are confident that Ghana can be developed as an offshoring destination.”

Source: AirtelTigo

Telecommunication companies are considering legal action against individuals, groups and companies whose activities results in fibre cuts of service providers.

This has become necessary because engagements with the National Engineering Coordinating Team to sanitize work around the right of ways and road reservation corridors have not yielded results as telecoms cables and infrastructure continues to suffer great damage.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chamber, Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey lamented the service loss to customers, the incalculable damage to industry reputation and revenue loss to the state as well as mobile network providers.

He decried the worrying trend which he explained spikes up operational costs of the network operators, reduces last mile connectivity and rural expansion projects not-forgetting the effect on the security of the Ghanaian citizen who require uninterrupted telecommunications services.

Perpetrators of Fibre cuts

“Fibre optic cables laid with all requisite fees paid to mandated authorities continue to suffer persistent cuts from road constructions and other private development activities such as property developers, farming activities, other utility providers etc. despite engagements with the National Engineering Coordinating Team to sanitize work around the right of ways and road reservation corridors” he emphasized.

Sharp rise in Fibre cuts

Statistics compiled by the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications shows a sharp rise in incessant fibre cuts which is responsible for poor quality of service as well as imposing huge financial burden on service providers.

Negative impact of Fibre cuts

The fibre cuts create network challenges such as call drops, speech mutation, calls not going through, poor voice signals, and degrades user service quality and experience.

This negative development also spikes up operational costs of the network operators, reduces last mile connectivity and rural expansion projects not-forgetting affecting the security of the Ghanaian citizen which requires uninterrupted telecommunications services.

Fibre cuts rise exponentially

According to data from Telcos Chamber, the number of cuts are going up exponentially.

30% rise in fibre cuts in Jan 2019

For example, the number of cuts recorded in January 2018 was 203 but this number jumped by over 30‰ in January 2019

Repairs cost $16m in 2015

The data revealed that it costs over $16 million to repair the damages in 2015.

$400,000 monthly cost of repairs in 2015

This put the monthly average cost of repairs to about $400,000 in 2015.

Repairs cost $700,000 in Jan 2019

However, the statistics revealed that in January 2019, over $700,000 was spent on repair of damages due to fibre cuts.

Repair cost almost doubled

This means that the monthly average cost of repairs has almost double in January 2019 compared to 2015 monthly average figure.

Down time worsens

The statistics also established that the average time for restoring the cuts and the down times are also increasing making the cost in terms of reputation and loss of revenue is incalculable.

Telcos key to development

Mobile telecommunications services are fundamental to the effective functioning of the State as they are critical to national security and for economic and social activities.

However, despite the clear importance of this service, and with its immense infrastructure and meshed networks built to support the deployment of the service, mobile network operators continue to suffer fibre cuts, which disrupt service quality and interrupts the network.

NCA imposes GHC34 fines on Telcos in 2019

Last month, industry regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA) imposed fines totalling GHC34million (GHC34, 065,000) on the four telecommunication companies for poor quality of service

AirtelTigo picked up the heftiest fine of GHC11.6 million (GHC11, 635,000).

All other Telcos also received sanctions with Glo being fined GHC4.4 million (GHc4, 460,000), MTN fined GHC9 million (GHc9, 080,000) and Vodafone receiving a GHC9.8 million (GHc8, 890,000) fine.

The companies are in court challenging the fines.

NCA imposes $7m fines in 2018

In November 2018, four telecommunication firms were fined $7 million for poor services.

The fine imposed by Ghana’s National Communication Authority affects MTN AirtelTigo, Glo and Vodafone.

The regulator justified the fines on grounds of non-compliance with various quality service requirements.

Source:Chamber News Desk

 

Telecom operator, AirtelTigo, has teamed up with smartphone maker Samsung to launch “Life Just Got Lit” smartphone campaign aimed to fulfill the digital aspirations of millions of Ghanaians.

Under the partnership, new and existing customers will get a free AirtelTigo package which includes a new SIM card, minutes to call AirtelTigo lines and data for the purchase of any Samsung phone or tablet in AirtelTigo shops and Samsung partner shops nationwide.

The free data and voice minutes for each customer will vary according to the price of the Samsung phone purchased and will be awarded every month for a whole year. For instance, for the purchase of a GHS500 phone, a customer will get a 1GB data which does not expire and 1,000 minutes to call AirtelTigo lines free, monthly for the next 12 months.

To enjoy the free data and voice minutes, customers will have to dial *536# to activate the offer for the first month and recharge their lines with GHS2 and above every month.

Commenting on the partnership, the Chief Executive Officer for AirtelTigo, Mrs Mitwa Ng’ambi, said: “Entering 2019, we recognize and acknowledge that digitization is a major agenda item for this nation and we are continuously seeking ways in which we can support the acceleration of smartphone adoption in Ghana. Our analysis shows that there is still a huge opportunity for growth when it comes to smartphone adoption in the country and we are delighted to partner with Samsung on this drive to get more smartphones into the hands of Ghanaians.”

The Managing Director for Samsung Ghana, Mr. Eugene Nahm, said: “As a technology company, Samsung wants to be at the forefront of driving the digitalization of citizens by connecting them to the world. This partnership is for today’s Ghanaian as enjoying the ultimate smartphone experience should be for everyone not a select few and that is why we at Samsung have an array of Smartphones – “The Samsung Galaxy”- for every Ghanaian regardless of their pocket.”

“This year marks 10 years of Galaxy, of relentless and meaningful innovations that have shaped and will continue to define the mobile industry and we are proud. For us at Samsung, this partnership with AirtelTigo has come at the right time and we are excited to be part of growing Ghanaians digitally through the “Life Just Got Lit” campaign,” he stated.

Source: AirtelTigo

MTN Ghana Foundation today announced that all is set for its annual blood donation drive dubbed “Save-a-Life campaign” to be held this year on Thursday the 14th of February 2019.

The aim of the campaign is to help stock blood banks across the country. The project is being done with the help of the Ghana Blood Service.

“We are very glad to have another opportunity to show our customers and all Ghanaians that we are a caring company. We believe that the availability of safe blood is critical in health administration and we are happy to assist, Robert Kuzoe, the Executive Secretary of the MTN Ghana Foundation said.

According to the World Health Organisation, lack of access to safe blood is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of childbearing women each year.

This year, the Save-a-Life campaign will take place in under listed institutions which have been earmarked as bleeding centers:

Greater Accra – MTN House at Ridge near Vanguard Assurance and Graphic Road office

Ashanti – Opoku Ware School and St Louis SHS

Volta – Mawuli Sec School

Eastern – Koforidua Technical Institute

Central – Adisadel College, Cape Coast

Western – Tarkwa MTN Service Center, Fiaseman SHS Tarkwa, Market Circle Takoradi, Aseda House, Takoradi

Brong Ahafo – Sunyani Secondary School, Victoria Park Sunyani, Techiman Sec School, Mt Camel SHS, Techiman

Northern – Forecourt of Tamale Regional Library

Upper East – Bolga Girls SHS and Bolga Ramsey Park

Upper West – WA Ministries Park

The Foundation is appealing to members of the public to come out in their numbers to express their love on Valentine’s Day by donating a pint of blood to help save lives.

The target for this year is to collect 3,500 pints of blood from all bleeding centers. The project has earned the Foundation/MTN some recognition, which include but not limited to the Highest Corporate Blood Donor-2013, second highest Corporate Blood Donor -2014, and one Highest Corporate Donor in 2015.

Since inception, 9560 pints have been realized with 2018 alone contributing 3294 pints.

Source: Ghanaweb

To celebrate the month of love, telecom operator AirtelTigo has launched a campaign themed “Share the Love”. Through this initiative, AirtelTigo will reward customers with various gifts, including an all-expense paid romantic getaway.

According to the Director of Marketing Operations for AirtelTigo, Pius Owusu Tuffour, to stand a chance to win the fully paid trip, customers would need to send an SMS with the word ‘START’ to 4062 at a charge of 50 pesewas to enter a game of trivia and build-up points.

He explained that two customers with the highest points will be rewarded with full VIP treatment at the Maaha Beach Resort located in the Western region together with their partners, adding that winners will be announced on 10th February 2019 and will be notified by AirtelTigo authorized personnel.

In addition to the weekend trip, AirtelTigo will also reward customers who will purchase Unlimited Voice Bundles and Big Time Data Bundles for their loved ones. This can be done by dialling *533# for Unlimited Voice Bundles and *111# for Big Time Data Bundles. Customers who purchase the most for others will stand the chance of winning great prizes such as hampers and free movie tickets.

“The year has kicked off to an exciting start at AirtelTigo and we’re happy to celebrate this month of love with our customers. ‘Share The Love’ is one of many initiatives that we have planned through the course of 2019, as we are fixated on making customers’ lives better,” he said.

He urged customers to beware of the activities of scammers. AirtelTigo does not charge any fee before prizes are redeemed.

Source: AirtelTigo

The Minister for Communications Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has appealed Ghanaians to collaborate with government to check cyber crime and its negative impact on particularly the youth.

This was contained in a speech read on her behalf by Hon. Vincent Sowah Odotei, a Deputy Minister for Communications at a forum to mark Safer Internet Day in Accra.

He urged parents, teachers, industry players, media and opinion leaders to assist in disinfecting the internet of cybercrime as would be done to any other infectious outbreak.

“We must utilize the knowledge and research that we have gained regarding cyber security threats and avoid inappropriate behavior and fraudulent use of the internet to protect our children and young people from cyber criminals. We must acknowledge the threats, discover the universe of possible responses to each threat and then empower ourselves with safety measures to eradicate the problem.”

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said although the internet has the power to be harnessed for good purposes, some malicious people have decided to dedicate their time and resources to use this powerful tool for selfish means.

“They harness this technology to among other things; sextort young children, perform fraudulent activities online, compromise system etc. Quite worrying is the open nature to the internet that gives equal access to everyone and allows anonymity and uncensored content so users including children, young persons, adults, corporate organizations, governments, NGOs, social groups and activists can create and publish on the internet without approval.”

The Minister said the theme for the year’s celebration, “Together for a better internet,” falls in line with government’s efforts to secure Ghana’s cyberspace through the National Cyber Security Awareness Programme which was launched in October last year.

She said as part of building confidence and security in the use of ICTs, government has acceded to two major conventions on cyber security; The Budapest Convention and the Malabo Convention. These are to ensure collaboration with other countries in tackling cybercrime which knows no geographical limitation.

“We have also established a National Cyber Security Centre where suspected incidents can be reported and adequately dealt with. Efforts are been made to identify legislation and policy gap between existing frameworks and international child online protection framework to incorporate issues that will seek to protect and prevent children and young people from Online Children Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCEA)”.

Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful urged all to combat cyber threats and attacks through awareness creation and put in preventive measures to curb the menace of child online abuse

Source: Ghanaweb

Today, 5th February, 2019 is Safer Internet Day. This global event takes place in February every year. Safer Internet Day promotes a safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones especially by children and young people across the globe.

This year’s theme is “Together for a better internet”. I am particularly excited about the theme because it calls upon policymakers, parents, teachers, law enforcement, telecom operators, among others, to join hands in walking the journey of creating a better and safer internet together.

According to a 2018 GSMA report, smartphone adoption continues to see rapid growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The report said that the total number of smartphone connections stood at 250 million at the end of 2017 and would double by 2025 to reach two-thirds of all total connections.

In Ghana, three out of 10 people now own a smartphone and the country’s data subscriptions stood at over 23 million ending September 2018. The internet is a great tool that has changed the way we work and interact with our families, friends, buy and sell, learn new things and meet new people.

I’ve been in Ghana, for just over 6 months now and I am amazed at how the youth and young entrepreneurs are leveraging the use of the internet to not only socialize but pursue their ambition.

Children and young people adapt to new technologies quickly and easily. My 6-year-old son, when asked to write about some of the things he enjoys, easily writes about how he likes to watch his favorite cartoon on YouTube – so you can imagine how happy a parent I was when I saw the launch of the YouTube Kids app (which I’ve already downloaded!).

The reality is that more young people are becoming technology savvy than we adults. My social media evolution stalled at Instagram – which makes me ancient in many young people’s eyes. I do believe though, that the internet remains a great tool that brings us fantastic opportunities but also poses some challenges, for our children and young people. Cyber bullying, cyber-crime and access to age inappropriate content are some of the dangers that our young people are exposed to.

To create a better internet, the ‘Safer Internet Day’ offers us stakeholders in the ICT industry an opportunity to join forces to address any negative experience young people may face online.  No telecom operator, non-governmental organization or ministry can create a better internet on their own and thus this year’s Safer Internet Day calls for collaboration among us all.

During this February, we at AirtelTigo will use our social media platforms to raise awareness on safe internet practices, because as a responsible telecom operator, we have an enormous responsibility to ensure young people’s safety on the internet. We will lend our voice to the cause.

I would like to see us protect the next generation of creators who will develop new solutions for our critical problems. We all have a role to play. Let’s collaborate to protect our young people online.

Source: AirtelTigo