IN the current information age, it is widely acknowledged that the cellular phone boom is helping to connect people in all parts of the world, including deprived societies. Thus the telecommunication service can no longer be regarded as a luxury because access to telephone service has become basic to the quality of life of the individual and it is indispensable to government operations. As a result of the amazing level of penetration of mobile telephony in the country, the use of fixed lines has become a very inconvenient, unreliable and frustrating endeavour.
In Ghana today, as elsewhere in the Third World, the cell phone has become a friendly lifeline for text messaging and web access. A cell phone, besides providing status and security, facilitates business and social interaction. The cell phone is changing people’s lifestyles by empowering them to communicate with friends and family members. Also, with the provision of the table top “communication centres”, many of our people have been given income opportunities and productivity gains.
Research indicates that there are more phones sold in Africa every day than anywhere on the globe, an indication that connectivity is prioritised above anything else. It is against the backdrop of the potential that cell phone use has for economic growth that the DAILY GRAPHIC welcomes the decision by the National Communication Authority (NCA) to instil sanity into the activities of mobile telephony operators in the country.
The NCA, on Wednesday, directed two of the country’s most popular mobile telephony operators, Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) and OneTouch, to halt the activation of new access lines with immediate effect. Mr Bernard Aidoo Forson Jnr, the Director-General of the NCA, told journalists in Accra that the directive, which was aimed at ensuring sanity in the mobile telecommunications industry, would remain in force until the network operators were appropriately positioned to take on additional capacity.
Although it is generally accepted in business circles that the consumer is always right, the services provided by the two companies could be said to be anything but satisfactory. The quality of the services is very poor because of the high call drop rate, and is always very frustrating to have one’s call disrupted in the middle of a very important conversation.
The phenomenal boom in the sector cannot be taken for granted, even in the face of the present directive from the NCA. The challenge now is for all the stakeholders to dialogue and resolve the bottlenecks in the system as soon as possible. The operators have come out with their side of the story, but whatever the situation is, the operators should be the first to admit that they have not been able to satisfy their customers. If the operators decide to be sincere to all Ghanaians, they will concede that their Customer Care Units have been inundated with complaints about the quality of their services.
The Daily Graphic calls on the two operators to comply with the directive by the NCA and effect the necessary remedies in order to improve the quality of their services. As part of their social responsibility, the operators are obliged to spend on social activities but they must endeavour to improve their services. It is obvious that if this is done, the operators will become good corporate citizens and mobile phones will not become toy phones.
We, however, appeal to the interest groups to continue to dialogue so that the customers will have value for money, while we commend the NCA for its latest ban on starter packs as reported on today’s front page of the Daily Graphic
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