Ghana is on its way to adopting the 5G network

The trial is not limited to Nokia, however, the government will also partner with other multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics companies in Ghana.

Currently, Ghana operates on the 4G network. However, only MTN uses it. Vodafone is also acquiring the latest 4G license to operate. Other telecommunication such as AirtelTigo and Glo still use the 3G network.

The minister in an interview said that the country cannot be left behind in the current wave of technological innovations and advancements.

According to her, “It is only a matter of time before connected 5G devices will be on our streets and homes, and we have to look and plan ahead and look at the kind of infrastructure we need to put in place to support this evolution taking place.”

The National Information Technology Agency (NITA) and the National Communication Authority (NCA) are discussing the modalities of these trials.

She said, “We are still at the very preliminary stages of this issue, and so when we have more information, we will put it before the Ghanaian people,” adding that, “We are having our regulators and technical people look at that space to offer the best training so as to equip our people to also benefit from all these innovations.”

Ghana introduced the ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) in June 2003, as a policy statement for the realisation of the vision to transform Ghana into an information-rich knowledge-based society and economy through the development, deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society.

The Communications Minister noted that a lot has changed since the introduction of that policy document in 2003 and there is the need for a review of that policy document to be more forward-looking because developments in the sector have long overtaken the policy.

The ministry will, therefore, be having a conference to kick-start the process with the office of the vice-president and key international stakeholders and organisations such as Huawei, Google, Oracle and Microsoft to develop the ICT strategy and policy.