The Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Sam Nartey George, has called for stronger investment in telecommunications infrastructure to ensure that communities across Ghana have access to reliable internet connectivity, with a minimum target of 4G coverage.
He made the call when the Ministry, together with the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), visited selected communities and cell sites in the Eastern Region to assess network connectivity challenges.
The exercise followed complaints from residents about poor mobile networks and internet connectivity in their communities.
The team visited Dwupong-Akwapem, Nkumkrom, Nsatse and Obosono to assess the situation on the ground, examine existing government interventions and engage residents on plans to improve connectivity.
Speaking to journalists, Sam George said the government was reviewing the country’s rural telephony programme with a new approach aimed at ensuring that rural communities were not left behind as telecommunications technology advances.
He acknowledged the efforts of previous ministers, including the late Edward Omane Boamah, Haruna Iddrisu and Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, towards the development of the Rural Telephony Project (RTP).
However, he said the current administration had a different outlook on the programme and was assessing the existing infrastructure to determine the best way forward.
According to him, the ministry’s assessment would inform proposals to the cabinet and guide future government investment in rural telecommunications.
Mr George said Ghana could no longer afford to provide rural communities with outdated telecommunications technology when the rest of the world was advancing towards 5G.
He said, at the very least, citizens in rural communities should have access to 4G connectivity.
“We are in an age where the world has moved to 5G networks, and for that, if nothing at all, 4G must be provided to citizens instead of 2G and 3G,” he said.
The minister stressed that as the government invested in roads and other social interventions, similar attention must be given to telecommunications infrastructure.
He explained that many of the existing mast and donor sites were already configured to support 4G, meaning the required upgrades could focus on replacing or improving radio equipment at the local Rural Telephony Project sites.
He said Ghana needed to make a deliberate policy decision to upgrade telecommunications infrastructure across the country to a minimum of 4G, while ensuring that the infrastructure was prepared for future 5G deployment.
Mr George also disclosed that the Ministry had directed the NCA to address a policy challenge under which customers’ existing data bundles did not work when they connected to some rural telephony sites.
He said the arrangement had effectively made telecommunications services more expensive for people in rural communities.
According to him, the policy directive would allow the NCA to work with telecommunications operators to undertake the necessary technical integrations to ensure that customers can use their existing bundles when connected to rural telephony sites.
The minister also raised concerns about the historically low rate of new telecommunications sites being constructed in Ghana.
He said that between 2015 and 2025, there were periods when as few as 40 new masts were constructed in a year, while the country averaged about 210 new sites annually over the decade.
Mr George said the situation was changing, with telecommunications companies committing to significantly larger investments in new sites in 2026.
According to him, MTN is undertaking the construction of about 800 sites this year, while Telecel is expected to construct about 350.
He said the Ministry was monitoring the rollout in collaboration with the NCA, GIFEC and telecommunications operators.
Mr George disclosed that nearly 180 of the targeted new sites had already been completed and expressed optimism that about 400 of MTN’s 800 sites could be operational by the end of 2026.
He further hoped that the remaining sites would be completed by the first or second quarter of 2027.
The minister said the expansion and upgrading of telecommunications infrastructure would significantly improve network coverage and internet access, particularly in underserved rural communities.
He stressed that reliable connectivity was increasingly essential to economic activity, education, digital services and social development, making improved telecommunications infrastructure a key component of Ghana’s broader digital transformation agenda.
