NEVER MIND waiting to get a controlling interest in South Africa's Vodacom as a bridgehead into Africa, Vodafone has just gone ahead and bought a majority stake in Ghana Telcom.

Reports say that it has agreed to purchase a 70 per cent stake in Ghana Telecommunications Company for $900 million from the Ghanaian government.

It makes sense since Vodafone claims the company's revenue from emerging markets soared by 45 per cent to £9.35 billion while European sales increased a mere 6.1 per cent. But that's still £26.1 billion worth.

Vodafone's Arun Sarin, whose still in the driving seat [only just], apparently said, "Ghana is one of the most attractive markets in Africa with mobile subscribers growing at more than 55 per cent per annum and mobile penetration at around 35 per cent."

Ghana Telcom is apparently the country's third largest mobile phone operator so Vodafone is obviously hoping to use its muscle to get the newly-acquired operator up the ladder.

Strange, then, that signs suggest Vodafone has got some of the Big Five handset vendors by the proverbials. Yet sharp falls in pricing haven't quite emerged yet. µ