300 villages to benefit from China-aided satellite TV project

The Ministry of Communications in collaboration with StarTimes will on September 26 launch the commencement of the nationwide ‘300 village satellite TV project’.

The ceremony to officially announce the start of the project will be held at Akweibu Basic School in Dansoman, the first beneficiary village in the Greater Accra Region.

In line with the government of Ghana’s commitment to bridging the digital divide between the rural and urban areas, the ‘300 village satellite TV project’ is expected to benefit 6,000 households drawn from 300 villages nationwide.

The project is another giant step aimed at helping “our citizens to access TV information on national and international events and programmes that would educate and inform them; hence increasing their awareness and knowledge to improve their welfare,” said the Communications Ministry.

Apart from the 6,000 households, a number of public areas will also be connected with satellite television service composed of a satellite dish, a high definition set-top box and accessories while 900 public institutions will be connected through a satellite projector TV system and 32-inch television sets.

China’s Ambassador-designate to Ghana H.E. Mr Shi Ting Wang and Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the sector Minister are expected to grace the launch slated for 10 am on September 26.

StarTimes partnership with the Communications Ministry in the ‘300 village satellite TV project is part of the commitment of The People’s Republic of China to deepen her long-standing relationship with the Governments of Africa.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation—a China-Africa Cooperation project President Xi Jinping said the project will give access to satellite television to 10,000 villages in 25 African countries.

President of the StarTimes Group, Pang Xinxing also remarked: “The China Government has entrusted the implementation of the Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African Villages Project to StarTimes, to ensure that the African continent and media development progresses to the next level in digital television broadcasting. To this effect, Ghana has been selected as one of the beneficiaries.”

The StarTimes team worked with the Ministry of Communications and various districts and regional representatives to identify the 300 communities. As part of the package for the project, the public areas in the villages will have a bouquet of 20 channels for free and 20 households a 6-month offer to enjoy over 30 channels for free.