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The Ministry of Communications through the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), in partnership with Huawei Technologies Ghana, has officially launched the Rural Telephony Project in the New Edubiase district in the Ashanti region.
The project consists of starting the commissioning of the Rural Star 2016 sites in rural areas of the country.
The project, which launched on Wednesday, will use Huawei’s novel RuralStar technology, which has been customized for Ghana through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Communications and partners.
The cost-effective solution that will save the government up to 70% of the cost of traditional cell sites will provide voice and data services to more than 3.4 million people in underserved and underserved communities to extend national mobile communications coverage from 83% to 95% % greatly accelerate local economic development while improving people’s livelihoods.
Speaking at the event, President Nana Akufo-Addo said the government is committed to ensuring that all Ghanaians, regardless of tribe, religion, class, location or identity, have access to affordable and reliable voice and data connectivity.
“To this end, the Ministry of Communications and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electric Communications (GIFEC), working in partnership with mobile network operators such as MTN, Vodafone and Huawei, are implementing a rural telephony project to provide voice and data connectivity to rural areas by 2016. phone sites, strategically located in underserved and underserved communities across the country, ”he said.
The sites, he said, will provide network coverage to more than 300,000 communities and provide an opportunity for more than three million people to connect with family and friends, while allowing these communities access to social, economic, and health commitments. and educational.
The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu- Ekuful also indicated that the Ministry will continue to provide the normative and normative support necessary for most of the initiatives or projects.
This is in line with its mandates to facilitate the development of reliable and cost-effective world-class communications infrastructure and services driven by appropriate innovations to enhance the promotion of economic competitiveness in knowledge-based environments.
“The project is a good example of a public-private partnership that works. I must congratulate GIFEC, Huawei and the mobile network operators for working together to carry out this project. As policy makers, we will continue to provide leadership in the implementation of solutions and programs to facilitate rural connectivity ”. She added.
After congratulating GIFEC, Huawei and the mobile network operators for working together to carry out the project, the Minister of Communications mentioned that this year, they intend to roll out 1000 sites by December.
According to her, no one, regardless of their financial, economic, social or location should be deprived of access to quality telephony services, hence the great interest of the government in ensuring that the project is delivered successfully.
Huawei Ghana Managing Director Tommy Zhou mentioned that the RuralStar Solution is currently connecting numerous underserved communities by empowering them socially and economically, citing that the solution has also been used commercially by more than 110 mobile networks around the world, serving to a population of more than 40 million.
According to him, the addition of local content reiterates the fact that Ghana and Africa as a whole have great potential in innovative technology and Ghanaians can be very proud of this.
Finally, he congratulated the Government of Ghana, the Ministry of Communications and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) for the demonstration of ICT leadership and capacity to demonstrate once again Ghana’s leadership in digitization in the region. from sub-Saharan Africa.
GIFEC, through the Rural Telephone Project, has deployed 400 rural star sites in more than 2,000 rural communities, providing mobile network coverage to more than 1,200,000 people in Ghana. Currently, Rural Star has been used commercially in more than 110 countries around the world, serving a population of more than 40 million.
