Ministry Of Communications Responds To Concerns Raised About 5G Contract

• Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure, has raised concerns about Next Gen Infrastructure Company Limited being awarded the 5G rollout contract
• He revealed that the company was only a week old when it won the contract and has no track record to prove it can do the job
• But the Communications Minister says the company was specifically created for the purpose of that contract

Investigative Journalist and Editor-In-Chief of the Fourth Estate, Manasseh Azure Awuni, has questioned the awarding of the contract for the rollout of Ghana’s 5G infrastructure to Next-Gen Infrastructure Company Ltd (NGIC).

In a Facebook post on Thursday May 30, 2024, Manasseh Awuni pointed out that the company, Next-Gen Infrastructure Company Ltd, was incorporated in less than a week prior to President Akufo-Addo’s approval of the deal.

NGIC is expected to launch 5G services across Ghana within the next six months, with plans for further expansion into other parts of Africa.

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Manasseh says giving such a huge responsibility to a company that has no track record nor demonstrated any capacity to be able to effectively execute such a contract was a matter of concern.

He added that awarding such a lucrative contract, rumoured to be worth millions of dollars to such a company through sole sourcing was very questionable and urged the Communications Ministry to give explanation concerning the matter.

Communication Ministry responds to concerns

The Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful responding to the concerns raised by Manasseh Awuni admitted that NGIC had indeed been incorporated just one week before being awarded the contract.

She explained that the company was created as a neutral infrastructure company to handle the rollout of the 5G infrastructure.

She also justified the single sourcing of the company by stating that previous competitive sourcing had experienced major setbacks hindering the rollout of the country’s 4G infrastructure.

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She noted that as a result of these setbacks, despite 4G technology being introduced into the country in 2015, it has achieved a mere 15% nationwide coverage.

Seven companies band together to form NGIC

YEN.com.gh has reported that the government is partnering with seven companies on a new shared infrastructure to deliver affordable 5G mobile broadband services in Ghana.

The seven companies are Radisys, Ascend Digital, Nokia, K-NET, Tech Mahindra, AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana.

These partners have established the Next-Gen Infrastructure Company (NGIC), which has been awarded a 5G license.

They are expected to launch 5G services across Ghana within the next six months and subsequently expand across Africa.

It will also work with the telcos to launch affordable 4G/5G-enabled smartphones.

Source: YEN.com.gh