MTN Ghana has announced that the company no longer expects to roll out the pilot of 5G network in the country as planned.
This decision is a result of the industry not appearing ready to award licenses to operators this year, according to the company. A new timeline for the rollout of the 5G pilot phase in Ghana is as yet, unknown.
Stating this in a press release, the managing director of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh said, “Since I promised once and failed, I don’t want to make another promise until we are absolutely sure”
The journey of 5G rollout in Ghana
In August 2021, MTN Ghana began outlining its plans for 5G in Ghana as part of its “Ambition 2025” strategy.
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The project dubbed ‘2 Africa’ is to be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects with the ability to interconnect Europe, the Middle East, and 21 landing stations in 16 African countries, Ghana inclusive.
The 37,000 km-long undersea cables will boost access to the internet in Africa and create capacity for the piloting of 5G internet in Ghana.
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In March 2022, the company announced that ongoing discussions with regulators could lead to a possible acquisition of the 5G license.
MTN Ghana upgraded 1,322 sites in preparation for the ultra-broadband rollout. In addition, the company had entrusted the digitization of its activities to Tecnotree, a Finnish company. The latter was to, among other things, rapidly develop new service offerings to meet the requirements of 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT).
MTN Ghana’s Position On The Matter
According to the managing director, the rollout of ultra-broadband in Ghana is of paramount importance to MTN, which aims to become a “leading provider of digital solutions for Africa’s progress.”
The company says it is aware that the 98% 4G coverage planned for the end of this year will not be enough to achieve this goal in a context of high digital demand. In its Mobility Report, Ericsson said that “5G networks will play a key role in achieving the technology pillars to realize MTN’s Ambition 2025 plan.”
The company notes that demand for data has seen astronomical growth in recent times, and this indicates that current internet infrastructure will soon be outstripped by demand.
This situation thus requires significant investment to expand data infrastructure, and telecommunications giant; MTN Ghana, is not relenting in its efforts to have this accomplished, but the company has now halted plans for the rollout of 5G network in Ghana stating that the Telecommunication industry is not yet ready to award licenses to operators.
No new date has been announced for the 5G Pilot phase rollout.