Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications
from RUSSELL ADADEVOH in Accra, Ghana
ACCRA, (CAJ News) – GHANA is accelerating the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) as well as telecommunication services to under-served and deprived groups and communities.
Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has appointed Parallel Wireless, the international technology firm, to speed the exercise.
GIFEC is a special fund set up by the government of the West African country under the Electronic Communications Act 2008 (Act 775).
GIFEC is a Universal Access Service Fund (UASF).
Abraham Kofi Asante, GIFEC administrator, said the UASF had been in the forefront of bridging the digital divide and connecting the unconnected by exploring innovative and viable solutions including Open Radio Access Network (RAN).
“This is what we need to accelerate the digital transformation in Ghana,” Asante said.
He recommended methodical collaborations among government, policymakers and private sector to create the right ecosystem.
The partnership with Rainbow services and OpenRAN leader, Parallel Wireless, focuses on enabling connectivity for end-users and verticals including transportation, health, education, security, defense and banking services.
Asante said the ultimate objective of this project is to achieve 100 percent mobile telephone service coverage throughout Ghana by working in close partnership with the mobile network operators.
Ghana has one of the more competitive telecom markets in the region but there are over slightly over 1 000 communities without mobile signals.
Christoph Fitih, Sales Director (Africa) at Parallel Wireless, said the cooperation with UASF was to help to deliver on Ghana’s vision of connecting societies, businesses, and people to enable wireless connectivity while future-proofing network investments for future services.
He said the project would ultimately open up local communities for development and economically empower the people.
“It will attract tourists, knowing that they will not be entirely cut off from the rest of the world because of poor network services when they visit,” Fitih said.
– CAJ News