MTN invests $103 million in network improvement

Wa, Aug 4, GNA - MTN, Ghana's leading mobile telecommunication company, is investing 103 million dollars into network improvement with focus on providing a distinct customer experience to its clients across Ghana.

The mobile telecommunication giant currently boasts of more than 14.2 million subscribers and 19,500 mobile money subscribers in Ghana, indicating how extensive the network is, Mrs Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, MTN Officer in charge of Corporate Communications, said during MTN forum in Wa.

She said the company's vision is to lead in delivering bold digital services to its customers.

Mrs Fiagbenu said MTN paid GH¢ 605,138.00 as tax to the government, more than the 26 million dollars as regulatory contributions and GHȼ 87 million as other taxes.

The company created more than 500,000 jobs for the youth and also gave out scholarships to more than 1,000 beneficiaries to further their education.

Mrs Fiagbenu noted that in the Upper West Region, the company spent GH¢ 933,740.00 on 10 projects since the establishment of the MTN Foundation seven years ago.

In terms of challenges, she cited frequent replacement of backup generators which often broke down as a result of over running capacity due to constant failures in electricity supply.

She hinted that in 2014, 350 generators were replaced and that more than GH¢ 25 million was spent to fuel them.

Mrs Fiagbenu noted that because of this unplanned expenditure, the company has to cut down on other activities such as corporate social responsibility in order to be able to deliver on its core mandate.

Mr Charles Osei-Akoto, MTN Technical Division Officer, said the Region is now fully digitised and together with the Upper East Region is leading in terms of network availability.

Mr Stephen Asare, MTN Mobile Money Implementation Manager for the northern sector, said the company currently has 6,880 active mobile money merchants.

GNA