Accra, March 5, GNA - Government on Thursday said it would directly monitor the activities of the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the mobile operators to ensure efficient quality service delivery. It said: "NCA will be monitored to ensure that its impact on the quality of service from the various agencies is improved.

"The issuance of the new numbering plan for all telecom operators to cater for future expansion of the sector will be monitored." The government said this in its 2009 budget statement presented to Parliament by Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance.

He said that policy directives would be given to guide the migration from the analogue to digital broadcasting in line with international convergence standards.

He said the NCA would pursue the development of consolidated integrated gateway monitoring system to serve as a telephone traffic clearing house for Ghana.

"This would promote transparency in the management of the gateway, protect license holders from fraudulent unlicensed gateways, and increase the flow of revenue from international call termination to both operators and the Government," he explained. Specifically, Dr Duffuor said, the enlarged Ghana Telecom (GT), now Vodafone Ghana, and Zain Communications would be monitored to ensure efficiency in service delivery.

He said competition in the sector would be sustained through proactive ICT policy development and innovative regulatory initiatives in order to improve telephone subscription in both the fixed and mobile telephone sectors to reach the rural and underserved areas. Dr Duffuor said government would facilitate the completion of the 2nd Phase of the National Communication Backbone from Tamale to the rest of the northern parts of the country and connectivity to the neighbouring countries.

"This will further facilitate the reduction of bandwidth cost to the ordinary citizens and corporate organizations. "The Ministry will also provide an open-access broadband infrastructure and GT/Vodafone will be monitored to complete the extension of the fibre optic backbone infrastructure to the northern parts of the country," he said.