W/R To Benefit From Vodafone/Telecom Expansion Prog.

The Western Region will from this month benefit from the roll-out plans designed by Vodafone, the new operators of Ghana Telecom to extend modern services to deprived areas in the country.

The head of Corporate Communications and Customer Care, Major Albert Don-Chebe who disclosed this here at the weekend, said that, in all, five deprived communities would benefit from the Vodafone expansion this month.

“This is part of the corporate social responsibility under the Vodafone brand,” he added.

Enquiries made by the Times suggested that areas like Aowin-Suaman, Mpohor-Wassa, Bia, Sefwi areas and Wassa Amenfi East had been described as “No go areas,” communicationwise and even accessibility by road.

And so, it was not surprising that, the Western Regional Director of Ghana Telecom (GT), Mr. Emmanuel Adusei Essel, said that the Vodafone expansion programme was timely.

He expressed concern about the lack of telecommunication facilities particularly in the northern part of the region and said that this  a worry.

He narrated a situation in which his niece had to leave Akontombra and trek to Sefwi Wiawso before she could reach him on phone in Takoradi.

“Even so, the girl had to follow with the same routine to receive another call from me,” he said.

“These deprived communities, have relations in the “big cities” but no means of communication.  And so this roll-out plan for us is significant and we will get there,”  Mr. Essel told the Times.

He was hopeful that, the new programme would reach the northern part of the region.

Meanwhile, in another interview, the Western Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC) Mr. Stephen Opoku-Mensah, told the Times that the commission was liaising with the headquarters as to how to transmit election results simultaneously from the “no go areas” to Sekondi.