Citizens who report unethical persons stealing telecommunication equipment and supplies from cell sites will be rewarded handsomely, according to the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications (GCT).
Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey, the Chamber's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), revealed this in Kumasi, saying that whistle-blowers would earn a bonus if the perpetrators were successfully convicted.
He was speaking at a news conference in Kumasi about the rising theft of telecommunications equipment from cell sites and its implications for the industry, national security, and enterprises.
According to statistics from the three major communications firms, there have been 115 theft instances on active equipment alone since August 2020, according to Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey.
"So far, the Ashanti capital of Kumasi has been the epicenter of the action." "So far, the hub of activity has been Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, with a lot of it centered on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology area," he said.
He said that the Ashanti Region accounted for 43.5 percent of all occurrences, topping the Greater Accra Region's 15.7 percent despite having the most cell locations.
Telecommunication firms used to face fiber cuts and theft of fuel and batteries at cell sites, according to Dr. Ashigbey, but they are now facing a new challenge: theft of active and passive equipment at the sites, which disrupts service delivery.
"What's fascinating is that the theft of some of this equipment may have an impact." "Depending on the layout of the given location, there may be more than one cell site," he explained.
He explained that while they have been able to pinpoint where the thieves are most likely to sell the gasoline and batteries, locating the stolen equipment is a monumental undertaking.
"From the manner, these individuals are operating, they are technicians, engineers, and people who are skilled in the business because they don't simply vandalize the site; they actively decommission it," he said of the offenders' knowledge.
Some of the equipment's supply chain has been disrupted as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, and some manufacturers are no longer making equipment that supports 3G, according to Dr. Ashigbey.