Hold discussions with Starlink and regularize their operations - Bunkpurugu MP to NCA

Following an announcement made by the National Communications Authority (NCA) that Starlink was operating illegally in Ghana and Ghanaians should desist from doing business with the satellite internet service, the Member of Parliament for Bunkpurugu constituency, Dr. Abed Bandim, has said a lot more needs to be done to ensure sanity in the telecommunications sector.

According to him, the NCA needs to hold discussions with Starlink and come up with strategies to regularize its operations.

Dr. Bandim stated categorically that the National Communications Authority needs to be proactive instead of reactive.

He said, “It is not enough issuing statements to notify and warn the general public against the operations of Starlink. In the instant NCA press release which has gone viral, ordinary folk in the countryside where rural telephony is lacking are reportedly using Starlink’s services to carry on with their lives. Starlink should, therefore, be brought to the discussion table with the aim of getting them to regularise their operations.”

“After all, what is wrong with making a phone call or using the internet to prepare your classroom lesson notes in the rural Nakpanduri/Bunkpurugu district within my constituency – if it is available from whichever source? Consequently, the national security implications of the instant matter cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, the NCA must wake up now and become more proactive rather than reactive.”

It would be recalled that on Thursday, December 7, 2023, the National Communications Authority (NCA) advice Ghanaians to desist from doing business with Starlink because it was not licensed to operate in Ghana.

In a press release sighted by GhanaWeb Business, the National Communications Authority said the illegal operations of Starlink was in Section 3(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2008, Act 775.

SA/OGB

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