[ 2015-11-23 ]

NCA commended for opening up 4G spectrum auction
The Network of Communications Reporters (NCR) has
commended the telecoms regulator, National
Communications Authority (NCA), for opening up the
sale of the 800MHz spectrum for all telecom
operators in the country to bid.

"NCR believes the NCA's move is in the interest of
the greater majority of the people because when
fully deployed, telecom users can have access to
super highspeed internet and data services while
their mobile voice quality will also be greately
enhanced”, it said.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed
by NCR Dean, Mr Charles Benoni Okine and Liason
Officer, Mr Samuel Dowuona.

It would be recalled that the NCA, in 2012 awarded
Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Licenses in the
2600MHz spectrum band exclusively to three wholly
Ghanaian-owned companies, Surfline Communications,
Blu Telecoms and Goldkey Telecoms in pursuant of
government's local content policy.

The three were to start offering Fourth Generation
Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) services within 18
months from the time of the issue of licenses.
However three years down the line, only Surfline
and Blu are operational but they have both not
expanded wide enough to enable the greater
majority of Ghanaians to taste the quality of 4G
services.

Whereas NCR lauds government's local content
policy and appreciates the efforts of the
Ghanaian-owned BWA licensees at expanding
gradually in the face of their financial and other
constraints, "we hold the position that the
greater majority of Ghanaians can no longer be
denied immediate access to affordable 4G
services."

The statement said, “It is in this light that
NCR believes that the NCA, and for that matter the
government, could not have taken a better decision
than to open up the auction of the 800MHz spectrum
to give all telcos in the country the opportunity
to access it and improve on their services.”

"It is our understanding that the 800MHz spectrum
was originally prioritized by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) for television
broadcasting, but the ITU has now re-prioritized
it for telecoms as part of the global digital
migration," the statement said.

It said the NCR was therefore glad when the NCA
announced it will from December 3 to 8, 2015,
auction a pair of 2x10MHz spectrum blocks within
the 800MHz band for improved 3G and 4G telecoms
service.

According to the statement, Mobile communication
is fast moving to IP (internet protocol) based
globally and that is largely driven by mobile
broadband technologies, the best of which is now
4G technology, which offers 10 times the data
speeds 3G offers and therefore gives users greater
experience than 3G does.

It said the new technologies also promise the
rollout of innovative services such as mobile
health, mobile education, mobile agriculture and
several others that will benefit the greater
majority of Ghanaians.

Data uptake
Data uptake in Ghana is growing very fast. This is
confirmed by NCA's Mobile Data Subscription Report
which shows that 3G data connections have crossed
the 60 per cent mark. Indeed other industry
reports show data consumption has grown by over
250 per cent within the last 11 months alone, and
by 10,000 per cent between 2011 and now.

Justification
On the basis of the foregoing, NCR is convinced
that Ghanaians are hungry for data and cannot wait
for the best data technology for much better
experience.

"We have taken note of some concerns raised by the
BWA license holders, but we believe that their
position denies Ghanaians a quick and affordable
access to 4G, which is not a policy any government
should pursue," it said.

The statement said “NCR fully acknowledges the
need for local content, but believes strongly that
local content is not necessarily about ownership
but more about participation in the value chain of
the resource in question”.

"We notice with regret that out of six
multinational telcos which command over 30 million
mobile subscriptions in Ghana, only MTN, which has
about 50 per cent market share has put in a bid
for the new license," it said,

The statement expressed the hope that the other
big players in the industry will find innovative
ways of gaining access to the appropriate spectrum
so that they could give the remaining 50 per cent
plus of Ghanaian mobile users access to 4G
services.

Source - MyjoyOnline

... go Back