Broadband Communications Chamber (BCC), the umbrella body of
broadband service providers in the country says there is need for the
government to review the existing broadband policy to conform the current state
of the industry.
According to the industry players, the main ICT industry policies
– the 2012 National Broadband Policy and Implementation Strategy and the
Telecoms Policy do not appear to be relevant to the times.
3rd Left- Mrs. Ursla Owusu, Minister of Communications together with leaders of the BCC
Industry players have pointed out that the broadband policy,
for instance, does not capture Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) operations,
Wireless Applications Services and other key emerging technologies, and it does
not also address the issue of consolidations, which has started happening in
the industry.
The broadband policy does not even mention 4G LTE and yet
that technology is here and the world is already moving on the 5G.
The BCC made this known when the leadership of the Chamber,
led by its Chairman Dr. Yaw Akoto and Chief Executive Gustav Tamakloe called on
the Minister of Communications, Hon. Ursula Owusu Ekuful. The meeting afford
the chamber opportunity to inform the ministry what’s happening within the
sector.
The telecom operators have also pointed out that the key
targets in the telecoms policy have long been met and so the policy has long
become irrelevant. They mentioned the voice and data subscriber base targets
for instance, which were met years before the deadline.
So it has become necessary for a complete overhaul of the
policies, and possibly to consolidate them into one unified policy as
government seeks to pursue one national ICT agenda.
Gustav Tamakloe, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) noted,
for instance, that the policy needs to state clearly how to measure and report
on the country’s broadband status because that is good for investor decisions.
He noted that consolidation and alliance within the industry
is the way to go and the players are willing to go that direction but the
policies and the regulatory framework do not exist for that to happen smoothly.
“That is one key area we will be looking at in our series of
broadband forums,” he said.
Tamakloe said the annual Broadband Forum series would
primarily engage industry players including policy makers, regulators,
operators, content providers, consultants and other stakeholders in frank
discussions about what direction the country’s ICT development should be going.
“We believe the focus should be on how to strengthen and
mainstream local players because they are more likely to develop
country-specific services and initiatives that will propel the country to
achieve it development goals,” he said.
Tamakloe said the Chamber would also be focusing on
challenging the young content makers through app and ICT product/service
development competition that would afford participants the opportunity to popularize
their apps through the platforms of all BCC member organizations.
BCC has therefore taken the challenge to lead the way
through regular national broadband forums, beginning November this year to
generate the needed guidance for the review and revamp of the national
broadband and telecoms policies.
In her response, the Minister asked the Broadband
Communications Chamber (BCC) to initiate public discussion on how to revamp
the country’s five-year-old broadband policy to give proper direction to the
digital Ghana agenda.
Communications Minister
She therefore asked the BCC to start regular industry
forums that will generate the needed insights for the review of the national
policy to serve as a relevant guide for the digital Ghana agenda.
The minister also pointed out her vision to spread broadband
connectivity nationwide, particularly to the tourists destinations mainly
located in deprived communities that lack broadband connectivity.
Part of the process has begun with the authorization of
telcos to use their 900MHz 2G spectrum already in the unserved and underserved
area, to deploy 3G technology and provide data services in those areas.
She assured the Chamber of her commitment to ensure the
Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) was applied to
driver widespread broadband connectivity to ensure no one is left out of the
national digitization process.
At the just-ended International Telecoms Union (ITU) World
Conference in Busan, South Korea, Deputy Minister of Communications, Nenyi
George Kojo Andah made the point that even the pursuit of digital terrestrial
television (DTT) calls for a review of the national ICT policies.
Currently the members of BCC are the four BWAs – Surfline, Blu and Broadband Home plus K-Net and MainOne Cable; and steps are underway to bring in Google, Nokia, Huawei, all ISPs and even telcos and wireless applications service providers
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