MTN Ghana, one of the leading telecommunications companies, is investing a total of US$144.5 million to expand its operations in the country, to improve the quality of its services.

Ms. Cynthia Lumor, Corporate Services Executive of the Company, who announced this said it involved increasing network availability and modernization, service innovation and operational efficiency.

She was speaking at a stakeholders’ and media forum held in Kumasi to keep the public adequately informed about its activities and future plans to sustain it on the path of continued growth.

She indicated that MTN Ghana’s contribution to the national economy had been substantial, employing about half-of-a million people.

Within the last 10 years, the company had funded 142 major development projects to assist transform the lives of many across the country.

She said these were in the areas of education and health infrastructure, provision of water and sanitation facilities, skills development and capacity building.

Mr. Dickson Amoung-Yam, Technical Manager, complained about the growing theft of batteries at the company’s cell sites.

This, he said, had become a huge bother, having lost revenue of US$5.4 million over the last three years through these thefts.

The batteries had been serving as a back-up for the smooth operation of the cell sites and appealed for public support and cooperation to rein in those behind the criminal activity.

Mr. Amoung-Yam told the forum that, for last year alone, the company recorded 698 fiber cuts, resulting in the disruption of services to customers.

For this, year, there had already been 494 such cuts, he added.

The company, he said, was, stepping up work to add 54 new cell sites for its 3G network, while 33 new sites would also be installed for its 4G network.

It was also going to deploy seven new SMART solution cell sites to ensure efficiency in its services.