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Contrary to public perception that there is �eavesdropping� or �phone bugging� of some people�s mobile phones, Haruna Iddrissu, Communications Minister, has assured the nation that there is no such equipment that intercepts phone conversation between a caller and a recipient. Phone bugging is an illegal phenomenon through which a mobile phone conversation between two people can be intercepted and recorded using sophisticated electronic gadgets. With barely a year and four months away to the 2012 general elections, the Minister said: �I can speak on authority that government has not acquired or installed any equipment or machines that can tap mobile phone conversation. I am not aware of any gadget that allows eavesdropping. To do it is unconstitutional, unlawful and illegal.� To give double assurance to publishers and reporters gathered at the forum, he stressed, �I will not be credible as a minister if this thing is ongoing. There is no part in Ghana that such a technology exists to tap phone users� conversation.� However, �The recipient of a phone call can betray the caller by disclosing the conversation to a third party by recording using a smart phone,� the Minister declared at a meeting of members of the Private Newspapers & Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) and telecom operators on Friday. In the elections of 2008, several complaints were made by some politicians and other phone users that some of their conversations were tapped. But Mr. Iddrissu said these gadgets could not be found in Ghana and therefore no one could record any conversation between two people using mobile phones. The Communications Minister said he was confident that the Data Protection Bill currently before Parliament would become law immediately the House resumed sitting. The Bill, which had gone through stakeholder discussions, would provide protection of privacy through the regulation of information processing, relating to individuals including the method by which data was obtained, held, used or disclosed. It will also set out the rights and responsibilities of parties involved in the processing of personal data, regulate the procedures and processes for institutional operations. Mr. Iddrisu said that was one of the best ways to provide privacy and security of the mobile phone user. Commending the telecommunication sector for its immense contribution to the Ghanaian economy, he called for the need to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural Ghana. In Ghana, people tend to use more than one telecom line. By June this year, statistics from the National Communications Authority (NCA) revealed that Ghana had a teledensity of 80 percent penetration or 19 million plus mobile phone subscribers. Gina Ama Blay, President of PRINGPAG, welcoming participants, said the new revolution in the telecommunications industry had gingered a heightened competition in the Ghanaian media landscape, urging the media to take advantage of modern mobile devices such as I-Pod, i-pad, and social networks like twitter and Facebook to discover the full potential that these devices could offer. Mobile news services or �News-on-the-Go� for instance offered high hopes for publishers where the news could be easily assessed on mobile phones, she pointed out. She called for a win-win situation between PRINPAG and the telecoms companies, saying, �The telecoms industry must continue to support us with adverts. I did not say they are not doing so. I emphasize that they must continue to sell their products and services through our pages.� She commended the mobile phone service providers for joining PRINPAG to dialogue on matters of interest. Michael Ipoki, Chief Executive Officer, MTN, said the telecoms industry, in terms of capital investments, had contributed between seven and eight percent to the Ghana�s economy. In the last four years alone, MTN had invested over 1.1 billion in the economy, he added. He also mentioned the need to do more despite the significant achievement chalked. �We need to consolidate gains. We need to talk about issues that will enable the industry to grow rapidly.� Ogbafemi Banigbber, Chief Technical Officer, Tigo, on his part said: �In as much as we celebrate the achievements, we must also consider the challenges.� He therefore suggested the need to explore more opportunities, especially in the rural areas and other services which required huge investments. He added that the next growth phase of the industry would be characterized by innovation and services such as data that required collaboration between the media and the telecoms giants. Donald Gwira, Head of Corporate Communications, Airtel, however said it was time for a paradigm change for the human hand to do more talking, adding that would bring more business to all players. Kwaku Sakyi Addo, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, appealed for an editorial discourse on telecoms that would help to grow the sector. The dialogue, which formed part of the activities to celebrate PRINPAG�s 20 years of existence, was chaired by Kabral Blay Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission.