Telecom operator AirtelTigo and Huawei have announced a strategic partnership to enable more Ghanaians to get access to smartphone experience they aspire for with reliable internet. The partnership will give new and existing customers of AirtelTigo a new SIM card, minutes to call AirtelTigo lines and data for the purchase of any Huawei phone in AirtelTigo shops or an authorized Huawei dealer shop nationwide. According to the partnership, the free data and voice minutes for customers will vary based on the price of the Huawei phone. While enjoying the free data and voice for every month for a year, customers will have to dial a shortcode to activate the offer for the first month and recharge their lines every month. “This is yet another step in our ongoing journey to make life simple for our customers. Our partnership with Huawei is part of our long-term plan to partner with multiple smartphone makers to boost our efforts of increasing smartphone usage and ensure millions of Ghanaians have access to the internet,” Chief Operating Officer at AirtelTigo, Murthy Chaganti said. Mr. Chaganti stated that with AirtelTigo’s wider network coverage and affordable internet connectivity, the company is delighted to support efforts to increase access to the internet through its innovative products such as “Big Time Data Bundles” to make the lives of many Ghanaians simple. Commenting on the partnership, Simon Liuxinwu, the Country Manager for West African [Huawei – Consumer Business Ghana] said the partnership aims at rapidly driving growth in the smartphone industry. “We simply want to enrich the Ghanaian surfing experience with high technology smartphones and we believe partnering AirtelTigo will help make this a reality,” he said. Huawei moved its way into a clear number two spot as the only smartphone vendor at the top of the market that saw volumes grow during the first quarter of 2019. Impressively, the company had year-over-year growth of 50.3% in 1Q19 with volumes of 59.1 million units and a 19.0% market share.