Stakeholders to dialogue on revamping Ghana’s Broadband Policy

Stakeholders in Ghana’s broadband communications industry would converge in Accra on November 30, 2017 to dialogue on how to revamp the country’s five-year old Broadband Policy.

The move, according to organisers of the Broadband Ghana Forum would afford the stakeholders the opportunity to inject dynamism into the policy and also discuss issues relating to the industry.

Speaking to journalists in Accra ahead of the one-day event, Elorm Gustav Tamakloe, Chief Executive Officer of Broadband Communications Chamber (BCC), an advocacy and lobbying group for the development and expansion of the broadband industry, added that the forum would discuss issues such as challenges and barriers to creating a fully digitally enabled Ghana, new technology enablers, Internet of Things (IoT), among others.

The forum being organised by the BCC under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications which is themed as ‘Broadband: The Catalyst for Sustainable Socio-economic Development’ would have series of presentations from key personalities and organisations under the sub-theme ‘True Broadband and the Possibilities It Brings’, he said.

Dr Thomas Mensah, a renowned Ghanaian innovator of fibre optic technologies would be one of the key speakers, while Nokia, Huawei and CSquared are expected to present their ICT solutions at the maiden forum.

Mr Tamakloe told the journalists at the press conference that, “after the forum, the Chamber plans to present recommendations on guidelines and modalities for the complete review and update of the existing policy taking into considerations new entrants and technologies in the broadband industry.

“The paradigm shifts we face today are profound, but our instinct is that the future is bright, the possibilities are exponential, Ghana has a lot to gain from universal broadband access only if we choose to let it be”.

“We cannot reiterate enough how small businesses across the length and breadth of Ghana will be major beneficiaries as high speed broadband will revolutionise teaching in our classrooms, healthcare in our medical centres and our hospitals”.

Mr Tamakloe stressed that “this is a historic of nation building, this is a historic moment for Ghana’s broadband industry, there is no doubt that broadband is indeed a vital nation building infrastructure that will take Ghana to its next level”.

What does broadband mean to people?

For business, it means reduced travel costs, better access to services, information, partners and customers.

For the sick, it means remote diagnosis and care, reducing the need for hospitalisation, reducing pressure on the hospitals and healthcare services, according to him.

While for the environment, it means better planning and control of natural resources especially energy and water supplies.

In his own words: “For industry, it means more efficient production and distribution. For schools, it means more access to information”.

But Ghana is losing out

The Chamber believes that Ghana’s current 2012 Broadband Policy and Implementation Strategy has lost the fundamentals in turbo-charging the country’s socio-economic future . This is because it has lost the ability to meet the national broadband need and has also not been able to deliver fast and affordable broadband for Ghanaians and businesses, Mr Tamakloe stressed.

In 2016, the UN Broadband Commission in a report issued a challenge to policymakers, the private sector and other partners to make deployment of broadband infrastructure a top priority in their strategies to accelerate global development and progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to the report, broadband technologies today are driving significant transformation in lots of sectors that are related to development such as health, food security, financial inclusion and education.

“It is therefore an undeniable fact that broadband is playing and will continue to play a key role in achieving the UN SDGs”, Mr Tamakloe indicated.

Sadly, Ghana is losing out. Ghana is being left behind. With about 9.9 million internet users representing 34.7 of about 29 million, the country either chooses to continue to do nothing or Ghana can seize the broadband opportunity as a catalyst for Ghana’s sustainable development soio-economic development.