Ghana’s only 5G wholesale licensee, Next-Gen Infrastructure Company (NGIC) has assured Ghanaians that come fourth quarter of this year, it will switch on at least 50 live 5G sites in Accra and Kumasi, all connected to a new cloud-based 5G core network.
In July, the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Sam George extended a June 2025 deadline for the rollout of 5G to the end of Q4 2025 (end of this year) and warned that if NGIC fails to rollout at least 50 5G sites in Accra and Kumasi, there will be consequences, which may include a review of its licensing terms.
As the fourth quarter of the year approaches, Techfocus24 approached NGIC to find out their level of readiness to meet the deadline, after having missed three earlier deadlines due to circumstance beyond their control – as capture in the article on this link.
In a written response, the company stated categorically the “By Q4 this year, NGIC will switch on 50 live 5G sites in Accra and Kumasi, all connected to a new cloud-based 5G core network. In simple terms, this ‘core’ is the brain of the system—it allows faster, more secure, and more flexible services than older mobile technologies. These sites will run on shared national fibre backbones and connect through neutral internet exchange points (IXPs), ensuring both speed and resilience.”
They reaffirmed their full commitment to delivering on the vision of a fair, affordable, and future-ready digital infrastructure for Ghana, saying “We understand the concerns around timelines and adoption, and we are addressing them directly.”
The company said the wholesale platform will come with clear service guarantees—covering network uptime, speed, and how quickly faults will be fixed—so operators know exactly what to expect.
It said pricing will follow transparent, cost-based models approved by the National Communications Authority (NCA), giving operators and consumers confidence that wholesale charges will be fair.
Partnerships and Financing
On partnerships, NGIC said it has signed agreements with tier-one equipment providers such as Nokia, is in discussions with cloud and data centre partners to enable edge computing, and has advanced talks with development finance institutions (DFIs) to support the first phase of rollout.
Leading towerco onboard
Earlier on, local tower companies were apprehensive about working with NGIC due to their experience with legacy telcos, two of which now owe them (the towercos) millions of dollars. In fact, AT Ghana alone owes ATC over US$100 million and the debt keeps piling up every month.
But NGIC said it has been able to cross that hurdle and closed a landmark agreement with Ghana’s leading towerco (ATC).
“This gives NGIC ready access to thousands of existing tower sites nationwide, allowing us to expand beyond Accra and Kumasi without wasting time or money duplicating infrastructure,” it stated.
The company noted that its role is not to compete with mobile operators or ISPs (internet service providers, but to provide a neutral, trusted platform that lowers costs and accelerates nationwide digital inclusion.
It observed that the model is ambitious, but achievable, saying that NGIC is determined to deliver for the industry, for government, and above all, for the people of Ghana.
Connecting entity Licenses
Whereas NGIC is assuring Ghanaians that it is tackling the stakeholder concerns head-on—with technical readiness, contractual safeguards, and practical partnerships, the public can only enjoy 5G service when the anchor telcos and ISPs connect to the NGIC network and deliver the service to Ghana.
So far, AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana have been granted connecting entity licenses because they applied for it, but the market leader and only significant market power (SMP), MTN Ghana has not even applied for it yet.
The NCA has also directed the ISPs will only be granted connecting entity licenses and guidelines to connect six months after the wholesale network has gone live.
At the last count, MTN controlled at least 73% of the overall telecoms market and almost 80% of the mobile data and broadband market. So, MTN’s failure to connect to NGIC and rollout 5G services could deny the greater majority of Ghanaians access to 5G services.
But it is also important to point out that the real value of 5G lies in enterprise solutions and industrial uses such as mining and oil & gas, logistics and smart factories, AI-powered agriculture, advanced financial services and healthcare and education among other things.
