Premier tours MTN, urges quality services

Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has urged MTN Rwanda to embark in offering better quality services to its subscribers.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012
CEO of MTN Rwanda Mr Khaled Mikkawi (R) with Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi during the latter's tour. The New Times / T. Kisambira.

Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi has urged MTN Rwanda to embark in offering better quality services to its subscribers.He made the call yesterday during a visit to MTN Centre in Nyarutarama, Gasabo District, to discuss ways of improving its services.The Premier noted that several subscribers have recently complained about the fluctuation of the MTN network lamenting that it has disrupted their daily activities. MTN is the largest mobile phone service provider with an active subscription base of 2.9 million as of November last year, according to official statistics."We need quality services from you so that the population can have full access to communication services, work seriously on curbing the network issue,” he advised.He also called on MTN management to come up with a system that is affordable to the country’s population so that at least 60 percent of Rwandans have access to communication handsets. Currently, 40 percent of Rwandans have cell phones yet MTN network covers over 98 percent of the country."The government is willing to work with you in order to develop better services provided by various telecommunication companies so that the population fully access fair services,” he added.On the issue of the network, Khaled Mikkawi, CEO MTN Rwanda, admitted that some technical issues are uncontrollable, but stated the company is currently making an effort to amicably solve the issue. "Sometimes technical issues go beyond our control but we try our best to maintain the network services,” Mikkawi said.He added that they are in the process of streamlining the network services by upgrading its system.The Premier called on MTN to cooperate with other telecommunication companies in solving the network issue. He plans to visit various private companies as part of his efforts to ensure they improve services.