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Telecommunication Regulation ICT Policy
Telecommunications Regulation (Stage 3)
Ghana Telecom (GT) started as a unit and then became a department at the Public Works Department. In 1974 it became the Ghana Post and Telecom Corporation (P&T). The P&T's monopoly was abolished as the sole supplier and distributor of all telecommunications terminal equipment and sole installer and maintainer of telecommunications equipment and manager of telephone services. Three years later, the Ghana Frequency Registration and Control Board (GFRCB) was founded and eventually took the P&T's responsibility of assigning and issuing radio frequencies to private, public and government agencies. It is now the issuer of all transmitting licenses.

In 1994, Ghana deregulated its telecommunications sector when the Government declared a five-year thorough reformation of the business identified as the "Accelerated Development Program 1994-2000 (ADP 2000)". Goals of this agenda were to:
  • Attain a teledensity between 1.5-2.5

  • Advance public access in rural and urban areas, through the provision of payphone facilities (both public and private)

  • Increase the coverage of mobile services

  • Encourage Ghanaian possession and power of telecommunications businesses

  • Keep a complete communal authoritarian control of the area through the National Communications Authority (NCA)

  • NCA needs to guarantee operability across the different networks


    • The National Communications Authority is the "independent" regulator. The NCA was formed in 1996 as the sole regulatory bureau to execute the telecom act and make certain there is valuable competition and competent investment in communications. The bureau also promotes a secure operating environment for all contributors, while also encouraging fair competition and efficiency. The main duty of the NCA includes the licensing and regulation of telecommunications system operators and distributing frequencies. The existing guidelines encourage telecom operators to set up their own networks, but necessitate that all operators utilize the system of the two national operators for international telephony.

    Challenges:
  • Lack of an efficient policy and regulatory framework to promote sector growth.

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  • Lack of procedures to make certain security of information – issues of privacy, reliability and accessibility of data.

  • Regulatory issues: distribution of licenses and interrelated agreements.

    • ICT Policy
    The Ministry of Communications was created in 1997 to guide the strategic development of the communications sector in Ghana. The policy advisor to the Ministry of Communications worked with the World Bank to construct an ICT strategy for the country. The advisor made some visits to Malaysia and Ireland. Prior to the ICT Policy, a communications strategy was passed in 1998 that did not incorporate an IT policy as such.

    The ICT Policy unit, headed by the Office of the President, consisted of 12-14 working groups. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) project helped manage the policy process. They created a framework document and invited the private sector to a two-day policy forum. The group aimed to build a vision for the Ministry and for Ghana. During this conference, the group focused on the following issues:
  • E-governance

  • Human resource capacity building

  • Policy for ICT in education; approach for primary and secondary schools

  • Medical informatics

  • Capital and venture capital funding


    • Currently, Ghana has a rising telecommunications marketplace, with annual 2003 service revenues estimated at $400 million and equipment revenues at $200 million. Present teledensity is 7.6, which is higher than that of most nations in sub-Saharan Africa. There are four mobile/cellular operators in Ghana, and 14 firms have licenses to provide satellite services. The country has about 200,000 mobile users, but only 8,000 dial-up Internet subscribers. Internet access is available in seven secondary cities, and there are numerous cyber cafés in Accra and the other cities. At this time, the government of Ghana owns about 70 percent of Ghana Telecom. The Ministry of Communications has announced plans to open the market to new entrants this year.

    The ICT Policy group proposed a body that would employ and recompense competent employees to encourage IT in the community and design enabling legislation for the private sector. The National Information Technology Agency – NITA - also created a means of communication with the private sector and provided service to the public sector.

    This policy group is mainly responsible for:
    1. Policy expansion, analysis and organization
    2. Scheme capacity monitoring and suggested operations
    3. Monitoring of national beneficiaries of projects (locally or internationally funded)
    4. Co-ordination of all IT projects in the communal sector

    NITA also institutes frameworks among highly regarded suppliers for the condition of a broad array of IT consultancy, expert services and IT products to administration agencies.