Gov’t will push for Domestic Roaming Service - Omane Boamah

Minister for Communication, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has revealed that government is in talks with different telecommunication companies to sign on to domestic roaming service that will enable the mobile user to switch from one network to the other in case of bad network.

The Minister was speaking in Parliament on Wednesday as the House sat to deliberate on the Electronic Communications (Amendments) Bill, 2016 tabled by the joint Committee on Communication and Finance.

“If you go through to the hinterlands, you will experience an extreme bad network. Police intelligence reveals that highway robbers operate in areas where the network is very erratic. For this reason, government is pushing for the telecoms to unanimously adopt a domestic roaming service which will enable the user to switch from one network to the other in case of bad network and obscurities in the network. Because some networks are better than others, one can switch over to a more variable network automatically, ” Dr. Boamah noted.

Dr. Omane Boamah expressed joy that members of the House accepted the motion of the interconnect clearing house. “I am glad that Parliament has seen the need to involve the interconnect clearing house in the Electronic Communications Bill which was unanimously approved by both sides of the House. This is a clear indication that the objective behind the interconnect clearing house has been well understood. It is also heart-warming that honorable members of the House are calling for more interconnect clearing houses.”

The Electronic communication Bill was laid and read for the first time on Tuesday 23rd February and referred to the Joint Committee on Communication and Finance for consideration and report in accordance with Article 103(3) of the 1992 Constitution and standing orders 125, 169 and 182 of the Standing Orders of Parliament of Ghana.

The Committee having carefully examined the bill was of the view that the bill will streamline and rationalize the activities of the various players in the telecommunications industry. The bill will also help in rectifying the market failures that have plagued the industry and led to significant losses of revenue to the state over the years.