Joe Anokye, NCA Director-General
President Akufo-Addo on Monday, 22nd October, 2018, officially commissioned the National Communications Authority (NCA)’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), as well as the Revenue Assurance and Traffic Monitoring Centre at a brief ceremony in Accra.
For the first time in Ghana’s expanded telecommunications sector, which has been led by mobile telephony boom, Government, through its revenue and regulatory authorities – the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and National Communications Authority (NCA) – has an independent ability to oversee, check, determine and confirm the actual value of the significant mobile telecommunications and the daily-expanding mobile money financial services.
The solution to be employed, commonly referred to as the Common Platform, is a significant achievement in government’s objective of expanding the digital economy of Ghana.
According to pundits, Ghana, by the acquisition of the common platform, has attained enhanced regulatory, supervisory compliance and commercial visibility by analyzing daily information on mobile usage and costs to the average Ghanaian customers, instead of the previous periodic and partial reports and statements, which the GRA and NCA could access.
And such significant developments, achieved through the institution of the KelniGVG Common Platform, has been attained, while adhering and insisting on full and stringent compliance of the country’s privacy and customer data security, which guarantee the privacy rights of each and every Ghanaian.
Government would also be able to check and prevent fraudulent calls that appear on customers’ phones through SIM-Boxes.
The Common Platform (CP), a proprietary solution offered by KelniGVG, is an integrated single platform installed at the head office of the National Communications Authority (NCA) and jointly managed by the GRA and the NCA.
Value for Money
The Common Platform solution will save Government and Ghanaians approximately $1.1 million monthly or $66 million (approximately GHS297 million) over the five-year term of the contract.
The project, in addition to its enhanced features and benefits, allows Ghana to make a huge saving of fifty-five percent (55%) on the costs of the two contracts that previously existed.
For less than half the price, the KelniGVG Common Platform service offers additional features in actual real-time call volume and value verification and confirmation, processing and reporting, mobile money reporting and SIM-Box fraud detection and identification.
In addition to all the enhanced services and product features, KelniGVG’s Common Platform saves the government more than USD $1.1 million monthly or USD$66 million.
Staff training
Additionally, young Ghanaian staff of the NCA and GRA are being trained to analyse and report on the common platform in a systematic skills and knowledge transfer. It is also worth nothing that at the end of the contract, all the current installed equipment will be upgraded to a standard as prevails in technology at the time.
The ability of the common platform to provide actual real time information for the confirmation of costs of telecommunications service used by customers helps the government to increase tax collection and assists the GRA to fully calculate specific taxes and levies due the country on telecommunications services for further investment into other critical services, such as free education, health services, agriculture and road and transportation networks.
Security from mobile fraud
The solution further guarantees each and every Ghanaian added data privacy and security in the use of telecommunications services.
The consumer benefits from the enhanced data privacy and security features of the ‘filtering box,’ a first for Ghana, as has been built into the Common Platform application, is based on positive inputs and feedback from local industry and other consumer advocacy partners.
The common platform makes customers calls secure by tracking and blocking fraudulent calls that end up on customers lines from unsecured call sources.
And when such fraudulent calls are removed, the customer experiences improved call quality of service on international calls.
Additionally, calls going through illegal routes, such as the compression methods used by fraudsters on voice over internet protocol (VoIP), are of poor quality and result in calls dropping, which make it difficult for customers to have meaningful conversations, as against the call clarity customers experience on calls coming directly through the customer’s actual lines.
Importantly, the Common Platform as installed by KelniGVG will enable the NCA, the regulator of the telecommunications industry, to more proactively and diligently protect the Ghana’s telecommunications customers instead of the previous after-the-fact complaints management alone offering.
For example, a mobile money customer who have suffered fraudulent credit transfer and loss will be able to immediately identify and request a recall of the incorrect credit transfer.
The Common Platform will therefore offer the thousands of Ghana’s mobile money subscribers, more security, reliability and transparency in the ever expanding mobile money services for further financial inclusion.
Additionally, Ghana’s telecommunications operators are offered independent and proactive back checks and reports on traffic volumes and other network quality measures for speedy review and correction, instead of after-the-fact penalties.
The independent reports generated from the common platform are a reliable source for the mediation, arbitration and resolution of network issues.
More importantly, effective fraud management services and a better working collaboration with the regulator, ultimately results in better protection of operating licences.
By Samuel Boadi