By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Minister for Communication and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has defended the government’s decision not to auction the newly rolled out 5G network.
According to the Communication Minister, lessons learned from the previous auctioning of the country’s 4G spectrum to MTN informed the government’s decision not to auction the 5G spectrum.
Speaking in an interview with an Accra-based Citi FM, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful, explained that the previous auctioning of the country’s 4G spectrum to MTN virtually kicked out the other network operators
“Government sold spectrum to local operators to do broadband on the understanding that they would be given exclusivity in that space, while mobile network operators did voice and procured data services from them (broadband operators) if they wanted to give those data services to their subscribers.
After promising them exclusivity, we went ahead and auctioned the 4G to these same big players, who MTN then acquired the spectrum because it has so much more financial muscle than these local entities and so MTN cornered the market. At the price the spectrum was pegged at the time, it was only MTN that could buy it, and that made it possible for them to corner the high-speed data market and blow the rest of the operators out of the market.” She noted. Adding that the need to fairly distribute data access featured prominently in the government’s decision.
“Monopoly in data services is not good in the way in which all economies are evolving and the need for data to conduct all businesses that we require. No matter what sector you are in, you need some amount of internet access to do your work and so all those were factors that led to the decision not to auction the 5G network but to provide a shared infrastructure for all the network operators and even new entrants.” Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful reiterated.
The government in May 2024, announced a collaboration with active industry players, including Ascend Digital, K-NET, Radisys, Nokia, Tech Mahindra, and other telecommunications companies to roll out 5G in the next six months.
But this decision by the government seems not to sit well with a cross-section of the general public including some Civil Society Organisations.
