Mr Samuel Nartey George, the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation and the Administrator of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Mr. Rashid Tanko, have inspected Rural Telephony Projects in four communities in the Sekyere Afram Plains District in the Ashanti Region to assess the progress of work and the way forward.
The Minister visited and inspected four sites at Nyameama No. 1 and No. 2, Abanua and Dawia. According to him, Dawia will be live and carrying traffic immediately while Abanua, Nyameama No. 1 and No. 2 should be powered by close of the week.
The team identified about three more communities where equipment needs to be quickly installed and tasked the Administrator of GIFEC accordingly.
The Minister said the field visit is important because next week the Ministry will meet with the contractor to evaluate work done. He noted that the Ministry inherited contracts for 1,016 sites and wants to do a comprehensive status update at the board level. He said he has authorized the Administrator to commission an audit to ascertain the status of all 1,016 sites whether they have been constructed and whether they are active and carrying traffic.
He said one of the key challenges identified from reports is the issue of batteries. He, therefore, appealed to traditional authorities and community members to help protect the batteries, explaining that when a battery is stolen, the site goes off.
He added that in some instances, issues have been reported with prepaid meters and ECG meters, while in solar-powered sites, batteries have been tampered with.
Mr. George assured the people of Sekyere Afram Plains that even though there is no electricity in some communities, the government is providing connectivity ahead of time as people need connectivity most across the country, beyond roads, water and other infrastructure.
He explained that telecom companies will not readily put up sites in small communities because mounting a full telecom mast has economic consequences since masts do not run on solar alone but on electricity and generators, and the revenue generated in small communities may not cover the cost of operation.
He said that is why telcos contribute to GIFEC to build community networks, which the government is now seeking to upgrade from 3G to 4G to give people a real digital experience. The Minister said the government is committed to converting the rural networks from 3G to 4G so that people in rural communities can have the same digital experience as those in the cities.
He emphasized the assurance by his President John Dramani Mahama and the Minister for Finance to provide the necessary resources to continue investing in rural telephony, because everybody needs connectivity.
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