After nearly one year of a takeover process, MTN has finally re-branded Areeba mobile network service operated by Scancom Ghana Limited. Scancom initially operated the service under the name of Spacefon but the named changed to Areeba when the Lebanese owned Investcom purchased shares in the company.
The company subsequently acquired all of the holdings of Investcom, which covers Ghana, Benin, Sudan, Syria, Liberia and Guinea-Bissau.
The company has about three million subscribers in Ghana out of the almost six million telephone subscribers in the country, thus giving the company an advantage over local competitors TIGO, Onetouch and Kasapa.
The number of mobile telephone service operators in the country remains at four but there are reports that Globacom of Nigeria is in the process of acquiring a license to operate in Ghana.
The company has already invested US$150 million to improve its network services and expansion that is likely to see penetration into more peri-urban and rural communities. The service already has coverage of all the 10 regions of the Ghana.
MTN International has a presence in about 21 African and Middle East countries is credited with more than 30 million subscribers.
Ghana is the second West African country that the company has invested in after Nigeria. Its operations in Benin were suspended but the company hopes to launch the services in the rest of the countries under the holdings acquired from Investcom in the course of the year.
George Andah, Director of Marketing, MTN Ghana, is positive the company will overcome infrastructure difficulties in order to spread faster and give Ghanaians improved and enhanced services through commitment of staff.
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