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afrol News, 17 February - Ghana Telecom has been strongly criticised after having closed all outgoing internet lines in the country in an apparent attempt to stop internet telephone calls (VOIP). The company's leadership recently was taken over by Norwegian Telenor. During the last four years, Ghana Telecom has gone from earning US$ 42 million a year on operating international phone calls, to losing US$ 14 million yearly, according to leaks from the company to the Ghanaian press. Ghana Telecom blames the losses of the spread of internet phone calls (VOIP), which still is illegal in the country. Shortly after leaking this to the press, the privatising state company is launching unannounced measures against the VOIP services, according to a report by 'Balancing Act'. Suddenly, traffic on the lines of all the country's internet service providers are only going one way, limited to receive outside calls. The directors of Ghana Telecom have not wished to comment on the situation so far. While Ghana Telecom has been maintaining that the illegal VOIP services are the main reasons for its eroded revenues from international calls, a legal process last year had provided evidence that the company itself was managing its services and revenues badly. Especially, it was noticed that Ghana Telecom had installed a large number of direct foreign lines to several of the country's leading companies; something that was suggested could indicate corruption among the company's employees. Increased competition from other private service providers, cellphone services and the use of e-mail were also suggested to make a more plausible explanation to the loss of revenue. Earlier this year, the Norwegian telcom Telenor Management Partner concluded a deal with Ghanaian authorities to take over the leadership of Ghana Telecom to prepare it for privatisation. Telenor is to see to the financial reshaping of the Ghanaian telcom, which is threatened by bankruptcy. During a period of five years, the leadership provided by Telenor shall make Ghana Telecom write black number and meanwhile invest in a significant expansion of telcom services throughout Ghana.
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