Skip to main content

NCR backs White Paper on rural coverage in Africa


The Network of Communications Reporters (NCR), has barked a white paper issued by the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) and Huawei, global telecoms giant, calling on telecom companies to co-share their infrastructure in rural parts of Africa to reduce the operational cost.

According to the NCR, the call comes in handy particularly at a time when the telecom companies are refusing to expand rapidly to those areas because of issues of cost and profitability.

In a release signed by the Dean of the NCR, Mr Charles Benoni Okine, the network was of the view that rural telephony penetration was still low in the rural areas, a phenomenon which is denying the people the opportunity to improve their economic wellbeing.

Particularly at a time when the government is keen on rolling out its One District One Factory initiative more rigorously, there is the need for telephony expansion to cover all parts of the country to accelerate development.

Issues of cost should not be entertained because have the capacity to draw up a strong business module that can help them cover cost and that is why the issue about co-sharing of infrastructure comes in.

“While we commend the more than 130 per cent mobile penetration, we are aware that the penetration is mostly in urban centres which is not the best because the spread must be well balanced”, it said.

The White Paper

The ATU and Huawei jointly released a White Paper on Rural Coverage in Africa in Barcelona, Spain on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress.

The white paper appeals to the stakeholders to improve African rural network coverage, saying connectivity has the potential to transform rural people’s lives and bring benefits in a number of areas, including health, education, financial services, transport, energy, agriculture among others.

As ATU indicates, rural connectivity should be addressed as a priority by governments and stakeholders.

The white paper analyses African nations’ ICT plan and demographic and geographic features, revealing the political, social, economic and technical challenges of extending rural coverage.

Proposals are also given in the whitepaper such as proactive rural coverage standard, healthy business ecosystem and encouraging private investment.

In the white paper, infrastructure sharing and scenario-oriented solutions are recommended to address cost challenges, while a supportive regulatory and tax environment is recommended to accelerate rural digital inclusion.

The Secretary General of ATU, Abdoulkarim Soumaila, said: “All people must be able to access the Internet. ATU is privileged to be part of this gathering in view of our role to ensure development of ICTs in Africa. Stakeholders should therefore cooperate and develop smarter strategies.”

“Huawei is committed to connecting unconnected with efficient business solutions”, said Cao Ming, vice president of Huawei Wireless Product Line,

“we will keep innovating specialised solutions and cooperating with other stakeholders,” he said.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some

90 African Journalists entertain by Disney Africa

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express Mauritius Disney Africa welcomed 90 journalists from across Africa to their first ever showcase to media from the continent, at this year’s Multichoice Africa Content Showcase Extravaganza. On Thursday 3 September, guests received a Disney Movie ticket which gained them entry to the special outdoor screening, set under the stars on the lawns of the idyllic Outrigger Beach Resort in Mauritius . After receiving their own Disney picnic basket and blankets, full of delicious treats and filling food, the guests made their way to the seating area, replete with comfortable chairs and loungers. Once the Disney fans were settled, the vast outdoor screen lit up and the evening’s festivities were well under way. A welcome speech by Deirdre King, Head of Marketing for the Walt Disney Company Africa, preceded the screening of two animated shorts. The first, the Academy Award-nominated Get a Horse, featured Disney favourites like Mickey, Minni

ABL launches chibuku super in Bolgatanga

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong sarpong007@gmail.com Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has officially launched the Chibuku Super drink at Bolgatanga in the Upper East region with the aim of reaching a lot of customers. Mr. Thomas Nii Ponku, Supervisor in charge of Chibuku Super at ABL told Daily Express that the management decided to launch the Chibuku Super drink in the Upper East region because they’ve realized it is similar to a traditional drink in the region. “Chibuku is like a well developed pito, a traditional drink made from fermented millet or sorghum in the Northern part of Ghana. So the idea is to provide them with similar drink,” he added. Mr. Nii Ponku disclosed this when members of the Institute of Finance and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) toured the facility of ABL to acquaint themselves with the expansion project at the factory. He mentioned that after a feasibility study, they realized there is a potential market for the product in the northern part of Ghana