Interconnect Clearing House will not stop sim box fraud – Telecom Chamber CEO

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Telecommunication Chamber, Kwaku Sakyi Addo, has told Biztechafrica that the Interconnect Clearing House 
will not help solve the issue of sim box fraud in the country.

According to him the introduction of the Interconnect Clearing House by the National Communication Authority into the telecoms sector is not the 
solution to the current sim box fraud which causes the government to lose over $40 million a year in revenue.

The government, through the NCA, will in May 2015 introduce the Interconnect Clearing House, which among others things, will assist in mitigating the surge of sim 
boxing in the country. Following the announcement by the government of it intention of appointing a local company to run the Interconnect 
Clearing House, stakeholders including Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telcos represented by the Chamber of telecom and other players 
have raised series of objection against the government intention stressing lack of fairness and transparency. 

In an interview, Mr. Sakyi Addo noted that the current price regime presided over by the 
regulator makes it extremely expensive to call from any part of the world, stressing that even countries within the ECOWAS sub region are 
not spared from the 19 cents charges for calls made into the country. 

"That has implication for regional integration and sub regional business development and trade. So it is a major problem and we are working 
together with the regulator, with the Ministry of Communication, with the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority to address, and 
from where sit, we don't see this as a law and order problem, we don't see this as a problem created by technology, we see this as a pricing 
problem" he stressed. 

In another development two industry players the Ghana Internet Services Providers Association and the Wireless 
Application Services Providers of Ghana have petitioned parliament concerning the regulator’s persistent move  to implement the 
interconnect clearing house come the second quarter of 2015.

Source: Biztechafrica.com