The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has announced that plans are far advanced for the government to roll out programmes to license additional satellite internet service providers to deal with the disruption to internet services in the country.

She stated in a 3news.com report that global satellite internet service provider, Starlink, is undergoing the necessary licensing processes to operate in Ghana.

During her briefing to Parliament (March 18, 2024) regarding internet disruptions, Owusu-Ekuful highlighted that it would take a minimum of five weeks to repair the damaged undersea cables causing the outage.

She emphasised the importance of licensing Starlink and encouraging other operators to establish their presence in Ghana

“Starlink is in the process of being licensed. And other operators are being encouraged to land in Ghana. We must also invest in operationalizing RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Company) instead of each country going at it alone.

“All network operators must arrange and implement alternate routes to restore phone services as they’re currently doing,” she stated.

Background

SpaceX, a leading spacecraft manufacturer and satellite communications corporation led by tech billionaire and visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk, earlier planned to expand its innovative satellite Internet service, Starlink, to Ghana and Egypt in 2024.

The move is to provide affordable, high-speed Internet access to underserved communities around the world.

NW/SARA

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