Technical glitch, or ...?

When my best friend, Afrakoma, actually bundled my first-ever mobile internet bundle on the Vodafone Ghana service, I was glad. Being a netizen, it was cost-effective for me. It still is (even though I understand Glo offers better value for money, in that regard).

If you use the Vodafone Ghana mobile internet service, you agree that the service isn't always perfect. There've been times when I've tried for over a week to bundle on the service, without success. Connectivity has also been unreliable at most times.

My latest difficulty with the service was a couple of days ago when I couldn't bundle even though I had the required credit.I wanted to bundle 750MB worth of data, which costs GHS15. I therefore called the help center, and was given a number of reasons and methods to use to subscribe:

• I was asked to cancel my old subscription, which I had already done.
• I was told to restart my phone, because my account (with Vodafone Ghana) was to be restarted too.
• I was told to use *125*5# instead of the usual #700#, for subscription.

All that didn't work as I kept on getting the same response. So I decided to add some extra credit, and was finally subscribed to the data bundle I had requested! So, what was the problem?

Here is a Slideshare of some screenshots of the experience.

Ghana, when Mobitel was the only telco

In the early '90s, almost all wireless handheld communication devices I saw were -- to me -- walkie-talkies. (Or so I think)

Ghana Telecom (now Vodafone) was the sole telecommunication network in the country. Most people had fixed lines, and that was the bomb.

Then Mobitel happened. In 1992. It officially became Ghana's first cellular phone telco, offering customers the ease of portability with respect to their communication devices (mobile phones).

By the end of 1992, about 19,000 Ghanaians owned mobile phones. The fever had caught on but it was still a 'preserve' of the affluent in society.
The mobile phones were 'huge' in size and weight, as compared to the sleek models floating on the streets of Accra and Kumasi today.
Customers couldn't access the Internet on the network, but were glad to have seamless connectivity with their friends, customers and business associates.

A lot has changed since more telcos entered the market in Ghana, but the era of Mobitel (now Tigo) is a milestone in the country's history.