Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co. and Ghana’s Ministry of Communications have launched the Rural Telephony Project which aims to provide voice and data services for more than 3.4 million people in underserved and unserved communities. The project was launched at the New Edubiase District in the Ashanti Region in partnership with the Ministry of Communications through Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC).
The project aims to provide voice and data services for over 3.4 million people in underserved and unserved communities. It will will utilize Huawei’s novel RuralStar Technology which has been customized for Ghana through the collaborative efforts of Ministry of Communications and partners and is expected save the government up to 70% of cost of traditional cell sites.
President Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo said;
“To this end, the Ministry of communications and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electrical Communication (GIFEC) working in partnership with mobile network operators, like MTN, Vodafone and Huawei is rolling out a rural telephony project to provide data and voice connectivity to 2016 rural telephony sites, strategically located in underserved and unserved communities across the country.”
The president added that the government is committed to ensuring that every Ghanaian, irrespective of tribe, religion, class, location or identity has access to affordable and reliable voice and data connectivity. He also acknowledged Huawei for its contribution to the development of ICT in Ghana, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic and now the localized RuralStar solution.
Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu- Ekuful also noted that the government was in making sure that the project is delivered successfully and they intend to roll out 1000 sites by December. “I must congratulate GIFEC, Huawei and the Mobile Network Operators for working together to deliver this project. As policy makers, we will continue to provide leadership in implementing solutions and programs to facilitate rural connectivity.” she said.
The RuralStar Solution is currently connecting numerous underserved communities empowering them socially and economically and has also been commercially used by more than 110 Mobile Networks around the world, serving a population of over 40 million. This is according to The Managing Director for Huawei Ghana, Mr. Tommy Zhou.
GIFEC, through the Rural Telephony Project, has deployed 400 rural star sites to over 2000 rural communities, providing mobile network coverages to over 1,200,000 people in Ghana. Currently, Rural Star has been commercially used in more than 110 countries around the world, serving a population of over 40 million.
