Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George has announced that the deadline for the rollout of 5G in Ghana is now the fourth quarter (Q4) of this year.
He made the announcement during the quarter two briefing of steps the ministry is taking to shape the digital economy in the country.
According to him, Next Generation Infrastructure Company (NGIC), the sole licensee for the rollout of a nationwide shared 4G/5G network is progressing steadily towards rolling out 350 4G/5G cell sites across the country for the provision of 5G nationwide.
He said government earlier set a deadline of June 2025 for the platform will go live, but unfortunately the company has been unable to meet the deadline.
According to him, as of today the operator has rolled out only 16 5G sites out of the 350 it promised, which was to include 50 5G towers. He said government will therefore expect NGIC to rollout at least 50 5G cell sites in Accra and Kumasi by the close of the new and final deadline.
Meanwhile, prior to the June deadline, the previous communications minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful also assured Ghanaians that by December 2024, 5G was going to go live in that, but that also failed.
Sam George said the Q4 2025 deadline is final because NGIC has now received full approval from the National Communications Authority (NCA) for its core network infrastructure, which reflects a meaningful milestone following earlier delays in 2024.
He said government has agreed with NGIC that if this final deadline is missed, NCA will initiate a review and a possible renegotiation of the license term, which is currently 10 years exclusivity.
Sam George said the nationwide shared 5G network model is a deliberate policy shift to reduce infrastructure implications, lower data cost, and accelerate universal 5G access for all Ghanaians.
“We are working closely with NGIC to ensure transparency, efficiency, and customer value at every state,” he said.
Even though the Minister did not give specific answers as to the cause of the delays when asked, Techfocus24 had earlier pointed out some of the key reasons for the failure to meet the June deadline in an this very detailed article.
Also Read: Elephant in the Room: Why Ghana missed the June deadline for 5G rollout
In brief, the article pointed out the main reasons for the delay are spectrum interference challenges, delays in tower rollout due to delays in connecting entity licenses to telcos and lack of guidelines for ISP to connect, and hesitation of tower companies (towercos) to work with NGIC due to the huge indebtedness of two telcos to the towercos among other things.
Techfocus24 had earlier gathered that all the equipment for the rollout of the 350 towers are already in the country but rolling them out without the assurance of operators and ISP connecting anytime soon, will only lead to cost in the form of fees and utility bills without any returns.
This writer is reliably informed that Telecel has received a connecting entity license but AT Ghana is still waiting to get theirs. MTN has from day one showed no interest in the shared network model.
Moreover, operators also need to configure their billing systems and do some upgrades to their network in order to connect to the NGIC platform effectively.
The minister said NGIC is receiving all the necessary support from the regulator to meet the rollout deadline. If all that goes well and all the necessary configurations, upgrades, connections and testing are done and results are passed by the regulator, Ghanaians should start enjoying 5G by January 2026.
