Du Pont Telecom, Africa?s leading provider of pay phones, has entered the Ghanaian telecoms market with their purchase of a 40 percent stake in local cell phone service provider Dial Tone.

This deal places Dial Tone, who hold a licence to operate a community pay phone, in a firm position to offer competitive business opportunities to small business entrepreneurs wanting to take advantage of the emerging telecoms sector.

Du Pont has a reputation across Africa for the delivery of superior quality product and reliable after sales service. ?As the largest distributor of pay phones on the African continent, we have immense buying power; this allows us to bring a good quality product to market which is cheaper than our competitors?, says Victer Kerslake, director, Du Pont Telecom.

The product is custom-designed to suit a demanding African environment and operates anywhere within range of a GSM signal. In addition, it allows the operator the flexibility of selling either pre or post paid voice calls. Part of Du Pont Telecom?s investment in this market will be the establishment of a local research and development centre at the Dial Tone head office in Accra. This centre will continue to develop software and new products specific to the needs of the Ghanaian market.

?Economic development is important across Africa; our investment throughout Africa has given us a unique understanding of what is required to facilitate this development?, says Kerslake.

Du Pont Telecom will be contributing to the development of entrepreneurs who make their business in the telecom pay phone sector, by ensuring that through skills transfers programmes, these investors are adequately prepared to develop and grow their business.

Broken hardware can potentially impact adversely on these small businesses, particularly when no hardware equals no income; Du Pont Telecom has overcome this in other countries by the presence of a local repair shop. This same initiative in Ghana will ensure a quick turn around time on repairs, therefore allowing a unit to become income generating as quickly as possible.

Du Pont Telecom and Dial Tone will be looking to open branch offices across Ghana which will further cement Du Pont Telecom?s footprint on the African continent. Du Pont currently has offices in South Africa, Nigeria, Benin and Tanzania with satellite offices in countries such as Mali, the DRC and Togo. ?This partnership will entrench our position as a leading telecoms service provider in Ghana. We are excited about the future and look forward to taking a quality product to market, knowing that we will have the skills and expertise locally to support the venture?, says David Poku, chief executive officer, Dial Tone.