Mobile Networks to reward informants on telecom infrastructure theft

Mobile telephone network operators in Ghana say they will reward informants who divulge information on the recurrent telecommunication equipment theft at their cell sites throughout the country.

In a statement signed by Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, the chamber said ” Ghana’s Mobile Industry is offering a very handsome reward to anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of culprits responsible for the recurrent telecommunications equipment thefts at cell sites throughout the country.”

It said between August 2020 and May 9, 2022, a total of 115 theft cases on active devices had been recorded, where fuel, batteries, copper cables and conductors.

Others are base transceiver systems, transmission equipment including both microwave and fibre optic transmission equipment, Radio Frequency (RF) and electrical cables.

“This is in addition to 1,429 incidents of passive equipment thefts,” the statement said.

It said there had been some interventions put in place to address the menace but with limited success chalked, adding that the situation had been affecting mobile network delivery occasionally.

“The unfortunate acts occasionally cause intermittent network disruptions and customers experience network challenges in the surrounding areas of these affected eight regions including Ashanti, Bono, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, North, Volta & Western,” the statement said.

The Ashanti region alone recorded over 50 theft cases out of the 114 (44%). The Central Region followed with a total of 19 theft cases representing 16.8%, followed closely by Greater Accra, which recorded 18 incidents representing 15.9%.

Dr Ashigbey said: “This is completely unacceptable as these impacts directly on the quality of service that customers have and has national security implications for all of us.

“We cannot allow these nation wreckers to continue having a field day. We have collaborated with several units of the CID and the National Signal Bureau, an agency of the National Security to enable quick action to nip it in the bud. We would need the support of the public,” he said.

The statement also said additional amounts would be given to the informants when the culprits are prosecuted and jailed.