The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications is intensifying efforts to bridge the digital divide in the Upper East Region, with plans to expand mobile network coverage to underserved rural communities.
Martin Aberba, GIFEC’s Upper East Regional Manager, said the agency currently operates 53 cell sites across all 15 districts in the region, focusing primarily on areas where telecommunications companies find it economically unviable to invest.
“We want every Ghanaian to have access to be able to use the internet and be able to make calls,” Mr. Aberba said during a recent radio interview. “We take up that mandate and ensure that those areas where the telecommunications are not economically viable to go there, then we go there and we provide those services to them.”
The agency, which operates under the Ministry of Communication, was established in 2004 as GIFTEL before being renamed in 2008 to reflect its broader electronic communications mandate.
Mr. Aberba, who has been in the position for six months, said border communities in districts including Kassena-Nankana West, Zebilla, and Tempane continue to face significant network challenges, often experiencing interference from Burkina Faso and Togo networks.
The regional manager cited recent success in Zari, a border community in Garu, where residents previously struggled with network interference but can now make reliable calls following GIFEC’s intervention.
However, the agency faces persistent challenges, including theft and vandalism of equipment. Aberba said community members have stolen solar-powered batteries and damaged panels at some sites, leaving entire communities without service.
“We want the communities to own the projects,” he said. “We want them to see it as their own project, protect it so that it will serve the purpose.”
GIFEC operates by establishing cell towers that connect to existing telecommunications infrastructure, routing traffic through the agency’s servers in Accra and Kumasi before directing it to the appropriate telecom provider for billing.
Mr. Aberba said the agency has received assurances from Accra about additional rural telephony projects coming to the Upper East Region to address ongoing network challenges in rural areas.
Source: a1radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Bolgatanga
