The NCA recently announced that it was going to authorise telcos to use their 900MHz spectrum band for free. This was originally licensed specifically for 2G services to deploy UMTS, which is a 3G technology.

The NCA said it chose to give the authorisation for free to enable telcos to deploy the technology at less cost so they could spread affordable 3G connectivity nationwide, particularly in the unserved and underserved areas.

In a statement jointly signed by the NCR Dean, Mr Charles Benoni Okine, and the Media Liaison Officer, Mr Samuel Dowuona, the network said the NCA’s action was laudable to the extent that it enabled a wider spread of 3G at less cost to the telcos, and that would make their services affordable for consumers.

"We are aware that telcos have separate 3G licences on the 2100MHz spectrum band, but they have not been able to deploy infrastructure and spread the service nationwide because it costs relatively more to do so on that spectrum band," the statement noted.

Penetration of 3G

Indeed, it is estimated that aggregately, the telcos have deployed just about 30 per cent of their 3G capacities mainly up to the district capitals as required by their licensing conditions, and have not gone beyond enough.

That, the NCR observed, had denied a significant section of the population of 3G services and that contradicted the ITU's global level information and communications technology (ICT) inclusion policy hinged on coverage and affordability.

The NCR, therefore, sees this new authorisation by the NCA as a very progressive one and has urged all telcos to take advantage of it and apply for the permit to deploy the 3G technology on the 900MHz spectrum and offer affordable data services nationwide.

"We are also glad that this policy will offer the consumer the power of choice since each operator will now be able to afford the spread of 3G and, therefore, offer consumers an alternative anywhere and everywhere," it said.

Unified licence

The NCR said it saw the move as the first step towards the realisation of the unified licence policy, where all telcos would be licensed to deploy a full bouquet of technologies between 2G and 4G and even higher, all in one licence.

The NCR said it also looked forward to seeing the telcos work even closer with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) to spread 3G infrastructure on GIFEC's co-located towers across the deprived areas to ensure the expected affordable service was not depleted.

"While we laud the NCA for this progressive move, we also urge the regulator to consider authorising partnerships between telcos and broadband wireless access (BWA) licence holders to enable a wider spread of 4G LTE technology to improve service quality for many more consumers across the country," the statement said.