The CEO of NextGen Infraco, Tenu Awoonor has said that once the shared 5G infrastructure is launched in Ghana, even individuals can secure capacities and start their own community-based Internet Service Provider (ISP) businesses without going through any of the existing telcos and ISPs.
He was speaking in an exclusive interview with Techfocus24 at the launch of the nationwide shared 5G network in Ghana.
Tenu Awoonor noted that, as a wholesaler, NGIC is ready to provide capacity to anyone who wants to be a reseller of broadband data, which means “anyone can launch an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) and acquire capacity from us and offer data services in a niche market like a school, community of even a whole region.
“So today, you can for instance, start Samuel Dowuona telecommunications and come and buy capacity from us and start offering services to a school or a community of your choice. So, the opportunities are endless – it will create new industries and job opportunities for Ghanaians,” he said.
In a write up, exclusively copied to Techfocus24, an industry expert, who pleaded anonymity, said the idea of individuals and smaller entities emerging as stand alone community-based data resellers is a tough one, given the infrastructure and regulatory requirement for setting up such ISP businesses, and the fact that not every community would necessarily need 5G.
In his words “Establishing a new ISP for a small community, while noble in intent, would require substantial investment including building towers, setting up servers and running fibre optic cables.”
But with the emergence of the 5G shared network, where NGIC has already built the necessary infrastructure, data resellers can take advantage of that and get into that space at a far cheaper rate.
He also proposed thus “We might also consider lobbying for an SMP (significant market power) tower in particular communities to ensure that residents get 5G at affordable rates. A mobile operator could be designated SMP in a particular community where a reseller or resellers want to operator, and the SMP will then be obligated by law to extend coverage to cover underserved areas so that resellers can take advantage of it.”
On when Ghanaians should expect 5G on the various telco and ISP networks, Tenu Awoonor said the demonstration done during the launch, where a 3D hologram image of a speaker in Finland was displayed live on stage, the Wi-Fi at the venue of the launch and all the bloggers at the venue were on 5G, which clearly shows 5G is live in Ghana.
Techfocus24 learnt that for the launch, NGIC provisioned and activated at least 22 sites for 5G across in parts of Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani and Cape Coast, but availability on the various telcos’ networks is expected to start in December.
“In terms of when Ghanaians can actually experience 5G from their telecoms operators, what I can say is that we have turned on the services and we have opened the pipes to them and very soon they will start providing the service to their customers.
“At this point, they are all at various stages of deploying and making the network ready, and I am very sure they are all excited about it and very soon they will be making a public announcements that they have 5G. Many of them are working to accelerate that process so I will encourage to reach out to your respective networks and find out from them when exactly they will go live,” he said.
Per shareholding and what each telco partner is bringing to the shared network, Awoonor said the telcos are contributing a combination of infrastructure and equity (cash), adding that they will be focusing more on quality service delivery while NGIC concentrates on providing a robust infrastructure that 5G can ride on.
According to the CEO, even though 5G is the focus for the launch, NGIC offers 4G as well, as the licensing conditions require. So operators who do not have 4G can acquire capacity from NGIC and start offering 4G services, and those who have 4G, but need more capacity, can still go to NGIC for same.
The independent towercos such as ATC Ghana and Helios Towers initially had some apprehensions as to whether NGIC will be a competitor or a collaborator. But Awoonor said the towercos are actually partners in this project because NGIC needs to ride on their infrastructure to deliver the services, instead of having to reinvent the wheel.
“Our idea is not to come and replicate what is already there but to leverage existing infrastructure and where there are gaps we will develop our own,” he said.
Speaking of existing infrastructure, way back in 2021, MTN Ghana, which is still yet to sign up to the shared 5G network, announced that they had provisioned over 1,300 towers across the country for 5G. It is expected that as they come on board, they will make those towers available for the benefit of Ghanaians.
