he Ghana Telecommunications Company (Ghana Telecom), is set to increase its One-Touch Mobile Phone lines by about 100,000 by the close of the year, Nana Kwakye Tanor, Ashanti Regional Director of the Company, has announced.

He said funds for the expansion of the network were ready, adding, "we will certainly be back on the market, come the next three weeks".

Nana Tanor was interacting with some Regional Editors and Presenters of the print and electronic media in Kumasi.

It provided the forum for the Company to shed light on ongoing expansion of its systems and to put to rest public anxieties over the poor telephone services currently being experienced particularly by customers in Kumasi.

He gave the assurance that the existing congestion and pressure that was making it difficult for customers to access the phone lines would soon be off-loaded as the Direct Exchange Lines were being expanded.

Buokrom and Tanoso for example would have their lines increased from the present 500 to 5,000 lines each.

Nana Tanor said the switches had been installed and that very soon they would become operations, adding that, the Company was eager to get over the present crisis situation as quickly as possible.

The Regional Director noted that apart from the damage to its public image, the crisis was having a telling effect on the finances of the Company and cited the sales of its pre-paid cards which got off well but had now slumped due to difficulty in accessing the lines.

He said the Company envisaged the use of six digits in Kumasi as part of plans to improve the quality of its service delivery to customers in the area.