Conditions set for strategic investors in telecom

The Government has made it a condition that interested strategic investors in the telecommunications sector should guarantee to provide the service within two to three years.

It is in furtherance of the policy to secure further investment into Ghana Telecom to support government's programme to connect all towns with Senior Secondary Schools and Training Colleges with efficient telecommunication services that would facilitate the use of the Internet.

Mr Felix K. Owusu-Agyapong, Minister for Communications and Transport, said this when answering a question in Parliament on Thursday asked by Mr Kwakye Addo, NDC- Afram Plains South, as to when telephone facilities would be extended to Tease, Mame Krobo and Ekye-Amanfrom in the Afram Plains South Constituency.

Mr Owusu-Agyapong said the government was confident that when the switching capacities were expanded and modernised through the injection of the needed investment, provision of telephone services would become a matter of course and be demanded as a right.

He said the Donkorkrom facilities as well as the switching system sited at Mpraeso were to be expanded from 100 lines capacities to 1,000 lines each to service the surrounding smaller communities in the Afram Plains South.

Mr Owusu-Agyapong said government appreciated the fact that the availability of telecommunications infrastructure would greatly contribute to the opening up of the Afram Plains to socio-economic development.

Mrs Edith Hazel, NDC-Evalue-Gwira, asked whether it was part of the package to improve upon existing facilities and the Minister said existing infrastructure had to be improved taking into account increasing the number of lines. He said the National Communications Authority has been mandated to work on the quality of service rendered by the telecommunication sector to ensure efficient service to the public.