General News of Thursday, 15 September 2011

Source: GNA

NCA to sanction mobile service providers for poor service

The National Communication Authority (NCA) says it will sanction mobile telecom providers if they fail to address poor network services.

Mr. Mawuko Zomelo, a Deputy Director at the NCA told the Ghana News Agency at Tamale that the sanction could be in the form of a fine.

NCA officials visited the Northern Region on a two-week fact-finding exercise which ended on Tuesday.

Districts visited in Tamale include Yendi, Napkanduru, Boli, Nalerugu, Damango and Walewale to find out the reactions of the public about the quality of telecom services.

Mr Zomelo said the interaction was also to find out the understanding of the public on the operation of the service providers, customer rights and responsibilities.

Information gathered during the exercise, he said, showed that most subscribers were dissatisfied with network operators.

One major concern Mr Zomelo mentioned was the issue of poor client service responds to complaints.

The results of the fact finding, he said, would enable NCA to develop effective strategies with operators to address the various concerns raised by the public.

He said the Authority would soon open branches nationwide starting with Northern, Ashanti and Western. “The Tamale office would be inaugurated next month,” he said.

The GNA’s own investigations in Tamale confirmed most subscribers were dissatisfied with the kind of service being provided by the operators.

Mr Kweku Gyasi, a resident of Tamale complained to the GNA on Wednesday about wrongful deduction of credit, network failures and unfulfilled promises made by network operators.

Mr Gyasi said on the 13th of September this month most people could not make call on their mobile phones for close to six hours, adding that it was becoming a ritual.

According to him, people numbering more than 600 would soon embark on a demonstration to register their displeasure to the operators.

Razak Alhassan, Bright Forson, Miriam Bawah and Najihat Adam all residents of Tamale spoke with the GNA on the same issues raised by Mr Gyasi.