By Arret Jatta
The Public Enterprise Committee’s (PEC) consolidated report for the year 2024, shows that the Gambia Telecommunication Company Limited (GAMTEL) faces difficulties in resolving customer challenges/faults.
Honourable Lamin J Sanneh, Chairperson, PEC said “According to the Auditors, GAMTEL has faced difficulties in promptly resolving customer faults due to operational challenges including the absence of a Fault Management Information System and mobility issues”.
He added that the management has noted that fault resolution, often necessitates on-site visits which could extend over weeks or even months.
“A customer survey indicated that 65% of respondents experienced service restoration within 3 days to 3 weeks after reporting a fault, while 35% reported restoration within the specified timeframe of 2 days (48 hours. Additionally, management stated that some of GAMTEL’s new vehicles were impounded by the vehicle control unit of the Office of the President for non-business-related activities”, he further explained.
Additionally, he stated that mobility challenges were observed at regional branches, where inadequate availability of road-worthy vehicles hampered fault restoration efforts.
“Some branches had only one operational vehicle, often shared among multiple branches, leading to delays in fault restoration as vehicles were frequently unavailable for use”, the chair said.
The committee recommended that GAMTEL should, urgently expand its network coverage to meet the growing demand, especially considering that internet packages are its primary revenue source.
”GAMTEL must ensure the implementation of an automated fault management system to enhance coordination between the customer service unit and fault restoration department by (latest) December 2024”, the Committee further recommended.
The committee also recommended that GAMTEL should, promptly establish its administrative framework latest December 2024.