Mr. Samuel Koranteng, Acting Corporate Services Executive of MTN who disclosed this at a stakeholder's and media forum in Kumasi, said 230 new 4G sites would be built this year to extend its coverage.

The forum was to share MTN's business performance last year and its focus for 2018 with the media. He further hinted that additional 1,100 3G sites, 300 2G sites and 200 rural sites would be completed in 2018 to ensure a wider coverage.

Mr Koranteng said the huge investments being made by the company, demonstrated its commitment to provide excellent service to its numerous customers, while extending telecommunications services to unreachable areas.

He said the company had installed fibre broadband to key businesses and residential places with over 20,000 homes connected in the Ashanti, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions, under the MTN Business Solutions.

Touching on the MTN mobile money service, he said the company paid GHC 98.9 million interest to the 8.3 million active subscribers between January 2016 and December 2017. About 90,000 mobile money agents and 17 partner banks are scattered across the country to make the service available to all.

He said the company currently has 17.1 million customers, representing 55.09 per cent of the market share on its network  To this end, it paid GHC 1.218 billion in taxes to the Government of Ghana (GoG) in 2017, the highest in the industry.

Giving further breakdown, Mr. Koranteng said GHC 1.059 billion of the amount was paid to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with the remaining GHC 159.4 million going to the National Communication Authority and Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications.

He said there had been a cumulative growth of 23 per cent in taxes paid to government over a five year period of 2013 to 2017.