Ebenezer Twum Asante, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, says telecommunications companies in the country are losing a lot of revenue through social media calls.
Revenues that telcos lose through social media calls are more than monies lost through Sim Boxing, according to him.
He therefore called on the National Communications Authority (NCA) to begin the regulation of Over-The-Top (OTT) calls made through social media networks.
Many Ghanaians now use social media networks such as Whatsapp, Facebook, IMO to make both local and international calls.
The practice, the MTN CEO, said was adversely affecting the revenue of the telcos operating in the country.
Mr. Twum Asante, who made this known when members of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) paid a courtesy call him, entreated government to, as a matter of urgency, institute measures to tackle OTT calls.
He said OTT calls rather put money in the hands of foreign companies and deprive the nation of revenue.
Explaining how the telcos lose money, Mr. Twum Asante said “when you make a whatsapp call you are making the call through the internet and by-passing the traditional channel. This deprives the telcos the ability to make revenue.”
Mr. Twum Asante said, “My position is that OTT is more expensive than SIM Boxing. I think we must apply the same level of seriousness to OTT calls since it has a bigger revenue threats.”
He stressed that all social media calls should be redirected through the traditional channels.
This, he said, would enable the telcos and government make revenue.
“I think the regulator in our country can also do same. We have to protect the operator in this country because that is the only way government can generate enough revenue from the sector,” Mr. Twum Asante added.
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