COVID-19: Internet traffic has gone up by 50% - Vodafone CEO

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Ghana, Mrs Patricia Obo-Nai, has disclosed that the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana has seen the company’s operations and the demand for its services go up by 50%.

According to her, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has seen a surge and data traffic and an increased demand for network and infrastructure in Ghana.

“We’ve seen data traffic go up by about 50 per cent and so we’ve had to expand capacity to manage it as much as possible,” she said.
The CEO said this in an interview with Bloomberg Surveillance’s live interview, which sought to find out how some changes in the telecom sector including the outbreak of COVID-19, had affected the company’s operations and services to consumers.

She said Vodafone as part of measures to satisfy consumer needs, embarked on a journey to drive digital adoption and help to establish opportunities for the educational and health sectors and small and medium-scale enterprises.
It also increased more digital wireless connectivity, enabled cashless payments, and delivered financial services through its mobile money platform.

Mrs Obo-Nai said Vodafone Ghana had seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of active customers on its mobile money platform since the outbreak of COVID-19, and she believed it was a good transformation as that was safer, secure, and the best way to pay bills and salaries.

She said the government had partnered the telecom companies and the Electricity Company of Ghana to provide access to fibre in communities and schools, saying that it was a good effort to ensure that all customers enjoyed the same services.

Responding to a question on steps taken by Government to halt the dominance of MTN in Ghana, CEO Of Vodafone said the telecom company is more concerned with having a positive competition in a provided equal space that would collectively help to satisfy consumer needs.

“We at Vodafone Ghana don’t have any problem so long as the actions of the regulator is helping the consumer, stimulating innovation and promoting creativity in the industry,” she said.

The CEO said bringing Vodafone under the Vodacom umbrella, had not limited the comprehensive operations of the company, however, it had enabled the two entities to share best practices, and create synergies through capitalizing systems to promote better services.