Koforidua, June 23, GNA - Ghana Telecom (GT) is to provide 60 payphones at Odumase-Krobo and another 30 in Adukrom-Akuapem by the middle of July, this year.

Nii Amaa Fleishcer-Brock the Eastern Regional Head of GT, announced this at a media briefing in Koforidua on Tuesday.

He said GT was installing 240 capacity broadband switches in Abetifi, Kibi, Asamankese and Akuapem-Mampong each with the capacity for expansion to 1000 lines.

Nii Fleishcer-Brock said efforts were being made by his outfit to modernise the Mpraeso and Nkawkaw switches into digital ones, while the Koforidua switch was to be increased from the current 9,000 lines to 20,000 under an on-going expansion project.

He said by the end of 2005, telephone lines in the Eastern Region would be expanded from the current 10,618 lines to 50,000 lines. Nii Fleisher-Brock announced that GT had started connecting fixed cellular phones to remote areas of the region, which had been programmed such that one could not remove them from their fixed location. He said the cost of using the fixed cellular phones would be the same as the line phones and expressed the hope that such phones could help boost agro-business and small-scale businesses in the rural areas. Nii Fleishcer-Brock said GT was to launch its broadband service by July 20, which would enable the company to transmit both voices and images, which could help television and information technology transmissions.

He said by the close of this year, GT hoped to introduce a new billing system in the regions that would introduce a new system to itemise calls made locally, which would help reduce customer complaints and also enhance data collection to enable GT to provide monthly bills. The Regional Head said the company was putting in place a fraud management system to take care of telephone abuse.

In answer to a question, he agreed that there was the possibility of some people tapping and using some people's telephone lines without the knowledge of the owners but warned that when such reports came to the attention of the management and any of the staff was involved, GT often took the "most drastic action" against the culprit.