Ghana Telecom to Rise Seven Fold by 2004

Mr. Oyrtein Bjorge, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Telecom (GT), has announced that the company has launched a big rollout campaign to increase its Global System of Mobiles (GSM) network, also known as One Touch, seven times over from the current lines of under 100,000 to 750,000 by 2004.

So far an initial investment value of $400million has been made which will increase the total fixed lines by another 400,000 and make sure telephone lines service every district, town and college or tertiary institution in the country. In the case of the rural areas where payphones may not be available, a GSM platform would have to be mounted, in addition to the use of Broadband High Connectivity (BHC).

Mr. Douglas K. Wagba, the regional GT director, stated that between now and 2005, the region's current total fixed lines of 11,250 will rise to 40.000. He assured that as part of the Ghana government contract with Telenor, GT will ensure that every part of the country will have access to a telephone.