As Ghanaian mobile subscribers wait expectantly for its services, Globacom Nigeria officials would not say anything on when the telecoms provider will start operations in Ghana.
When ghanabusinessnews.com spoke to two senior officials of the company at the West & Central Africa Com, telecoms conference in Dakar, Senegal on the subject, they declined comments.
Globacom received the license to operate in Ghana as the sixth mobile provider in June 2008 from Ghana’s regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA), and in 2009 the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), granted it permits to build its cell sites, and about two years after, the company is yet to start operations, even though it is spending millions of dollars in advertising and payments to musicians and movie actors to represent its brand. The company is also spending money on sponsorships.
Ghana’s Minister of Communications Haruna Iddrissu, once said he was doing everything possible to get Globacom to start operations on Ghana’s Independence Day in 2010.
“Let me assure Globacom that government is doing everything within its reach to allow for your major launch to coincide with our Independence celebration,” Mr. Iddrisu said during a ceremony at which Globacom presented a cheque of $250,000 to the national football team, the Black Stars.
It has also laid cables in the country and landed its fibre optic – Glo One.
The company however, has plans to establish an application store in Nigeria soon, Globacom’s Director of Value Added Services (VAS), Samson Isa revealed during a panel discussion at the Dakar conference. “We shall launch an application store soon in Nigeria,” he said without giving any details.
Meanwhile, the SIM card registeration exercise in Ghana will end on June 30, 2011 and the following day July 1, 2011, the country will activate the Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The MNP allows mobile subscribers to switch from one service provider to the other and still keep their phone numbers including the code after the process known as porting.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi, in Dakar, Senegal