Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalization, has confirmed that NextGen Infrastructure Company (NGIC), the company that was given the license for the implementation of the 5G network, was founded just a week before the contract was awarded.
According to the Minister, the company was founded as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) expressly for the purpose of holding an impartial shared infrastructure, which was non-existent until now.
She speaking at a press conference in Accra to announce the launch of the government’s initiative to establish a shared digital public infrastructure for the role out of 4G and 5G networks across the country.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful mentioned that prior experiences and setbacks that had impeded the nation’s 4G technology rollout were the reasons why auctioning the license was not pursued. The nationwide penetration rate of 4G has barely reached 15% since its launch in 2015.
The minister emphasized that the difficulties encountered in the 4G rollout informed the government’s strategy for the deployment of 5G.
She claims that the government intends to circumvent similar challenges and hasten the rollout of the 5G network by immediately awarding the contract to a recently established organization.
The Ablekuma West MP offered insight into the government’s strategic decision-making process, highlighting the necessity of a specialized infrastructure business to guarantee the timely and effective implementation of 5G technology throughout the nation.
“There isn’t currently a neutral infrastructure company that can deliver this service; this is a special purpose vehicle that was established once the government decided that we would use one to deliver this service.”
We decided not to auction it because, as she put it, “it had to be specifically formed for the purpose of delivering this service based on the strategic policies and decisions of the government, and it is borne out of our experiences.”
This statement aligns with the queries posed by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni about the NextGen InfraCo Ltd. deal.
Awuni made note of the fact that the firm was just incorporated a week before President Akufo-Addo gave executive permission for the sale in a Facebook post on Thursday, May 30.
Mr. Awuni drew attention to the fact that the contract, which is estimated by experts to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was given through exclusive sourcing, depriving other businesses of the chance to submit bids.
He argued that questions concerning the fairness and openness of the procurement process are raised by the absence of competitive bidding.
Previous to Manasseh Azure’s allegation, the government had declared a collaboration with seven prominent figures in the sector to create a novel shared infrastructure with the objective of providing reasonably priced 5G mobile broadband services throughout Ghana. Ascend Digital, K-NET, Radisys, Nokia, Tech Mahindra, and two telecom firms, AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana, are among the seven partners.
These partners have established the Next-Gen Infrastructure Company (NGIC), which has been granted a 5G licence, according to the government. Within the next six months, NGIC anticipates launching 5G services throughout Ghana, with ambitions to expand into other African countries.
According to the government, NGIC will create the country’s first 4G/5G network and partner with telcos to launch smartphones and fixed wireless access (FWA) customer premises equipment (CPE) at competitive prices in Ghana this year.
Through the introduction of digital services in healthcare, education, and digital financial transactions via peer-to-peer (P2P), peer-to-merchant (P2M), and merchant-to-merchant (M2M) platforms, the collaboration seeks to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
It is anticipated that this programme will encourage financial inclusion and lessen the digital gap.
Additionally, NGIC will receive assistance from the multi-party cooperation in the full deployment of network infrastructure and associated services.
Additionally, NGIC will receive assistance from the multi-party cooperation in the full deployment of network infrastructure and associated services.
The goal of communications service providers (CSPs) is to offer improved digital services to the enterprise and consumer markets.
Tech Mahindra will construct a cloud-native core network powered by top original equipment manufacturer (OEM) platforms in order to enable this.
NGIC intends to follow India’s prosperous lead in utilizing digital platforms, low-cost smartphones, and regionalized software and content. Starting in Ghana, the goal is to spread this high-speed mobile data paradigm throughout the continent of Africa.
