Selorm Adadevoh, managing director, MTN Ghana, 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. The new timeline for the rollout of the 5G pilot phase in Ghana has not been revealed at this time, "Since I promised once and failed, I don't want to make another promise until we are absolutely sure," Adadevoh said.
In August 2021, MTN began outlining its plans for 5G in Ghana as part of its "Ambition 2025" strategy. In March 2022, the company announced that ongoing discussions with regulators could lead to a possible acquisition of the 5G license. As of that date, the company said it had upgraded at least 1,322 sites in preparation for the ultra-broadband rollout. In addition, MTN Ghana 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).
According to Adadevoh, 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 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.”