Ghana assures on VoIP

Ghana Communications Commission say it will tighten the noose round operators using IP for call dumping but assure VoIP enthusiasts it was not against the use of IP technology.
 

“Let me clear the erroneous impression about Voice over IP. VoIP is not illegal. VoIP is allowed [but] before you operate VoIP you need a license. Westel is using VoIP and is allowed, Ghana Telecom for some time is also using VoIP. What is happening is [that] other illegal operators
such as ISPs terminate calls illegally into networks because they use their Internet services to terminate calls from abroad using their satellite dishes to pass calls through the modem that would appear as local calls,” said Chief Regulator Major Tandoh.

Tandoh who spoke to IT Edge in Lagos, Nigeria said the trend was not peculiar to Ghana alone but practised in the entire sub-region. In Nigeria, incumbent telcos has had to battle hordes of start-ups including cybercafes deploying VoIP to sell voice services at very low prices in a market hungry for cheap international calls.

Ghana has witnessed the same trend and in the past few months the operator and incumbent Ghana Telecom had descended on alleged grey market operators. “Those found breaking regulatory guidelines have been asked to pay penalty,” Tandoh said adding that Ghana has found a way round solving its grey market ‘ache.’

The regulatory commission is blocking illegal voice by allowing ISPs to access only in-coming traffic. Tandoh said Nigeria has to carry out the same strategy unlike the duplex access granted ISPs. Duplex means both
out and incoming traffic can be accessed by ISPs “and that encourages call dumping.”

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