AU delegates visit GT Earth Station

Accra, May 9, GNA - A four-member assessment team from the Africa Union Commission (AUC) on Tuesday inspected facilities at the Ghana Telecom Earth Station at Nkuntunse near Accra to ascertain Ghana's capability to host the satellite Hub of the Pan-African Telecommunication Network.

The Africa Union Commission and the Government of India signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a Pan-African e-Network through which India and AU would provide tele-medicine, tele-education and VVIP network in all member states to support economic growth and contribute to the achievement of the millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the NEPAD ICT initiative.

Responding to the AU's invitation to bid for the selection of a suitable location for the satellite Hub Earth Station, Ghana submitted its bid to host the satellite communication Hub Earth Station, Regional Super Speciality Hospital and a University.

The facilities of the Ghana Telecommunication's Earth Station at Nkutunse, University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology were considered by Ghana to be appropriate to meet the standards and requirements expected by the AU for the location of the Hub Earth Station.

Senegal and Mauritius were the other two strong contenders. The team would verify the suitability of the institutions and also to confirm the commitments submitted by Ghana to host the Hub Station, which would be passed on to Ghana after the expiry of the project. Eliman M. CHAM MIEE, Vice President of the Regional African Satellite Communications Organisation (RASCOM) and a member of the team, said they were impressed with the manner the facilities at the Earth Station were maintained.

He said all the facilities had met the international standards and commended Ghana Telecom and the Government for their commitment and dedication to work.

Professor Mike Ocquaye, Minister of Communications, said the Government would ensure that the necessary infrastructure required for the project were in place before the commencement of the project. He said the Ministry of Energy would also provide the necessary electricity capacity to the site and the Ministry of Transportation would also reconstruct the two-kilometre link road to the site. "The Ministry of Communications will ensure that the necessary exemptions and licensing are granted to ensure the smooth running of the operation of the project," he said.

Prof Ocquaye said Ghana attached great importance to the activities of the AU and with regard to the Pan-African e-Network and Ghana was ready to put at the disposal of the project infrastructure and personnel that would be required for its successful implementation. He announced that a nation-wide fibre optic communications backbone infrastructure would be constructed to cover the entire country and would also be extended to link up with the neighbouring countries. Other members of the team included Mehari Taddele Maru, a Legal Expert of the Office of the Legal Counsel, African Union Commission; Dr Zouli Bonkoungou, Telecom and ICT Expert, AU Commission; and Ganesh Chanbra Pandey, Regional Director-West Africa, Telecommunications Consultants India Limited, a Government of India Enterprise. The team would leave tonight for Senegal.