NCA Denies Payments To Afriwave

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has refuted claims that it was paying money to Afriwave Telecom Limited for its services in monitoring international traffic and revenue from the telcos.

According to the NCA, Afriwave, the company that won the bid to monitor telecom traffic and ensure revenue assurance, has not started operations officially and, therefore, does not deserve any payment.

The Director-General of the NCA, Mr William Tevie, denied the allegations in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra (yesterday), and said “Afriwave will start operations in May after the contract for Subah Info Solutions has come to an end officially.”

He explained that following the successful selection of Afriwave after a competitive tender process, the NCA licensed the company for a full range of services which included monitoring international traffic and revenue assurance.

“Afriwave has since installed and integrated its systems with that of all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to ensure a continuous and smooth transition period when the contract of Subah Info Solutions ends in May, 2016,” he said.

Mr Tevie noted that considering the arrangements under the contract, there was no way the NCA would be paying for services not rendered and described the allegations that Afriwave was being paid as unfortunate and unnecessary.

MNOs comply

The engagement of Afriwave requires that the MNOs dump the international incoming CDRs onto both Subah and Afriwave servers as part of the transitional process and with the clear objective to enable all parties to identify any shortfalls and make the necessary corrections before the end of Subah’s contract.

As a result, Mr Tevie explained that “there is a parallel phase being run before the cut over to ensure that at any point in time, the government does not lose revenue.”

Meanwhile, the NCA Director-General noted that “the NCA is happy to state that all the MNOs have cooperated fully with the exercise.”

Further clarification

Mr Tevie further clarified that Afriwave was not being paid for the dual role it was playing in monitoring international traffic and revenue, and as such, there had been no duplication of payment or any financial loss to the state.

“As stated earlier, the essence of this exercise is to prevent potential financial loss to the state that might be occasioned by an abrupt pull out by Subah at the expiration of its contract,” he said.

Mr Tevie gave an assurance that the NCA took its mandate seriously and would protect the interest of all stakeholders.

Telcos complaints

Until the selection of Afriwave was finalised, the MNOs had vehemently rejected the idea of the setting up of an Interconnect Clearing House (ICH) meant to provide a common, independent mechanism, to resolve disputes and the settlement of interconnect accounting traffic for all the existing and future operators in Ghana.

However, upon a number of consultations by the sector ministry and the NCA to explain the rationale for its establishment, calm has returned for its smooth implementation.