Ghana on the verge of transitioning from 4G to 5G spectrum - Minister

Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has said Ghana is at the threshold of moving from 4G to the 5G spectrum for mobile networks.

Ursula Owusu stated that the deployment of 5G should be viewed by telecommunication companies as an evolution that builds on all spectrum asset adding that service providers need to be able to make the best use of the latest internet innovation.

Findings from www.ericsson.com said that the need for new additional spectrum for the advancing generations of cellular technologies and mobile networks has grown over the years based on growth in mobile data traffic and emergence of new use-cases. To enable the evolution to a full 5G experience, a complete and comprehensive spectrum strategy is essential – including a plan to handle the migration of technologies.

The Communication Minister has argued that although it will take a while for Africa to experience the full potential of 5G, her outfit is in talks with some mobile phone brands to begin with trials in Ghana.

In an interview with Ghanaweb at the launch of Vodafone Ghana’s 4G LTE spectrum Ursula said, “All the major equipment manufacturers are deploying the 5G offerings currently. There’s a 10-year evolutionary cycle between the various levels of deployment of spectrum. So we are on the verge of transitioning from 4G to 5G. It will take a while before it trickles down to our part of the world but I’m excited that we are working with Nokia to begin the trials. I’ve asked Huawei and they have said that their 4G equipment is scaleable through software upgrades and so it’s 5G ready.” She averred.

On the other hand, she said for telecoms to be able to compete effectively, there is the need to give customers the best experience possible with the most state of the art technology.