Vodafone Declares War - On Illegal Gateway Bypass

Vodafone Ghana, has indicated its resolve to wage a relentless war on the syndicate behind international gateway bypass in the country, an illegal mode of terminating calls emanating from foreign countries.

Officials of the company say, the fraudulent act was not only denying the company several millions of dollars in revenue but also preventing the state from getting its share of the revenue for national development.

The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Mr Kyle Whitehill said this at a news conference in Accra to announce progress made by the company to clamp down on the perpetrators of the crime in the country.

The company which has been working in close collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, impounded a large quantity of equipment and SIM Boxes used for international gateway bypass.

The equipment which included a generator set, computers SIM boxes among other sophisticated gadgets were picked from a hideout at the Greda Estates at Teshie in Accra but no arrest has made been made.

Analysis from the company indicates that the equipment used in the operation had led to a loss of more than US$2.5 million in revenue per month since last December.

The seizure is the third by the police and the first by a telecom company whose local lines have been a target for the illegal operators involved in such fraudulent activities because of the low call tarrifs.

GSM and International Gateway Bypass is a growing problem which is costing 3G, GSM, mobile and fixed network operators millions of dollars each year.

As a result of competition and what some may refer to as greed, GSM Gateway operators are deliberately routing international voice calls to avoid operator charges at the respective interconnection points.

The most common method is said to use a GSM gateway often referred to as a (‘SIM box’ or ‘GSM Router’) to terminate Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) on an operator’s network as a local call.

About how the illegal operators make their money, it was noted that the 'grey route' operator or carriers brings international minutes over the internet and terminates them as local calls on the GSM or Fixed operator's network, denying the operator the international termination rates.

A grey route is a route that is legal for one country or the party on one end, but illegal on the alternative end.

Mr Ashley Ratcliff, Director of Corporate Integrity and Risk at Vodafone Ghana, said the move by the company and the police “would greatly impact these illegal operations from continuing”.

“The detection of this illegal SIM box operation was due to the ongoing vigilance and professionalism of the Vodafone Ghana security team who have continued to invest resource and time into meeting the company’s commitment to our customers, the government and the wider Ghanaian community”, he said.

Mr Ratcliff said as a high integrity organisation, Vodafone Ghana, took a zero tolerance to any fraud, corruption and other crime stand and the results of that operation was a testimony to that commitment.

“Prior to October 2010, Vodafone Ghana Sims were the favoured telecommunication provider by Sim box operators; however, the successful operation in early November 2010 which resulted in the seizure of thousands of Sims and more than US$200,000 of equipment, Vodafone now suffers the least from Sim boxes in Ghana”, Mr Ratcliff said.

Mr Ratcliff promised that the company would continue to be vigilant to these types of illegal activities and would continue to lead the way in the prevention and detection of criminals who defraud their business, the government and the people.