MTN pulls out of Google free Gmail SMS project in Ghana

The Google free Gmail SMS project for Ghana has suffered a major hitch as MTN Ghana, the largest mobile telephony provider in the country pulls out.

Sources familiar with the development have told ghanabusinessnews.com that MTN pulled out because they were losing revenue, but MTN officials gave a different reason for pulling out of the project.

Mrs. Mawuena Trebarh, Corporate Services Executive, MTN Ghana,told ghanabusinessnews.com on the phone that MTN Ghana has suspended the service due to technical problems.

A source close to Google however told ghanabusinessnews.com that Google and MTN are in some discussions, but MTN Ghana is not on the system at the moment.

The Gmail, is the free web-based email service provided by the world’s leading Internet search engine Google. Google added and activated a free SMS feature to the service for users in Ghana on Thursday March 11, 2010. Gmail users are able to send free SMS to their friends. The service according to Google offers the feature on MTN, Zain, Tigo and Kasapa mobile phones. Vodafone did not join the project from the beginning.

And Ghana was the first country in Africa to have the service activated.

Google Ghana, has told the media in Ghana on the day of the launch of the service that they acknowledged that it could lead to revenue loss to the mobile phone companies.

It is not clear from all indicators that MTN would return to the project, as revenue generation from SMS is a big part of the company’s earnings.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi