President Akufo-Addo has pledged to ensure that telecommunication and ICT facilities are spread to every part of the country.
He described as unacceptable the situation where basic telephony infrastructure was largely concentrated in major economic centres, despite the significant deployment of telecommunications services across Ghana.
To help change this, the government over the past 19 months, through deliberate policies was creating the right environment, to encourage private sector investment in the communications sector.
President Akufo-Addo said this when he inaugurated a rural telephony project, in Abenaso, in the Eastern Region.
The project would connect the Abenaso and the surrounding communities with ICT facilities and telecommunication services.
The town and 499 other rural communities would now enjoy “3G†coverage.
The rural telephony project is being rolled out by the National Communications Authority and Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), in partnership with MTN and Huawei Technologies Limited, and the President said, this was going to provide data and voice connectivity to 1,020, hitherto, un-served communities nationwide.
“Indeed, the Abenaso rural telephony site, which I am inaugurating today, is part of 161 rural telephony sites and 85 repeater sites which have been completed within 18 months of my government, and which will be providing voice and data connectivity to approximately 500 communities across the country.â€
He added that by the end of 2018, a total of 200 telephony sites, serving 1,000 communities would have been completed.
“Such is the commitment of Government to ensuring the realization of today’s ceremony that taxes, such as VAT, customs duties and other import levies, were waived for the equipment brought into the country for the project,†he said.
Expanding telephony connectivity services to rural communities would help open up opportunities for the development of skills and knowledge, as
President Akufo-Addo expressed appreciation to the traditional authorities, for generously donating parcels of land for the project to take off.
He encouraged the chiefs and people in the beneficiary communities of the Abenaso project to “utilize fully, the opportunities that this project will bring to themâ€.
“We would want to see this project bring about a positive impact on the lives of residents of this community and other beneficiary communities.â€
To the youth of Abenaso, the President advised that they took advantage of the facility to better their lives.
“You are living in perhaps the most exciting time in our history, so please make the best of it. Some say this is our time. I say this is your time, and tomorrow will be the time of your children.â€