Areeba becomes MTN

Accra, Aug. 03, GNA - Areeba, Ghana's number one mobile phone network is now Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) as from August 2 2007.

The transition comes with change in colour from Areeba's orange to MTN's yellow.

Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr. George Andah told journalists that the colour signified sunlight, saying that from August 3, 2007 MTN would shine its yellow light on Ghana.

He said the change would symbolise quality service and for the over 2.5 million MTN subscribers in Ghana.

"We are presenting MTN as a brand that understands its customers and appreciates that every single customer is different and have different taste," he said.

In that light, he said the introduction of MTN came with a broad range of tariff plans for different categories of customers, adding that by dialling 1333 each customer could choose from six options, follow the voice prompt and be migrated unto the extra special or extra connect plans.

Other tariff systems like the VIP and others exist for persons who want them.

He said the MTN service came with caller tunes, lower off peak calls, lower SMS rates and some freebies including access or life, free night calls, 60 local call back and 10 international call back. As part of the launch MTN also aired two different TV jingles, one corporate and one local jingle. It also introduced new scratch cards with Ghanaian Musician Samini as the face of MTN.

Mr. Andah also stated that Ghanaian international footballers, Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah would be the faces of MTN sport sponsorship activities.

MTN currently operates in 21 countries in Africa and in the Middle East. It had over 44 million active subscribers, twice Ghana's population, with a market size of over half a billion people. Mr. Clement Asante, Marketing Executive in MTN Ghana assured both current and prospective customers that as leaders in the African telecom industry, MTN promised world class services to its customers. "With the advent of MTN the face of telecom in Ghana is about to change and that change begins from now," he said.

Mr. Ransford Tetteh, President of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) noted that the advent of mobile phone services had resulted in what had come to known as citizen journalism, saying that it was good for democracy and urged MTN to continue to provide services that would deepen democracy and development in Ghana.

The unveiling of the new MTN logo followed the launch. It was marked with performances from Samini, Kwabena Kwabena, Mega Stars band, Tema Youth Choir and a comedian from Nigeria, among others. Samini performed the new MTN jingle entitled "Go".