By Iddi Yire, GNAÂ
Accra, Sept. 07, GNA – Mr Samuel Nartey George, the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, has announced that the National Communications Authority (NCA) is scheduled to complete a 5G spectrum assignment before the end of 2026, and begin its deployment.
The purpose of the 5G deployment is to deliver significantly faster data speeds, ultra-low latency, and massive device connectivity to transform both consumer experiences and industrial automation.
The Minister made the disclosure during the Government Accountability Series Press Conference held at the Jubilee House in Accra, to provide updates on key developments, policies and initiatives shaping Ghana’s digital and communications sector.
Mr George said the Authority would launch its online licensing and payment portal, and that it would also finalise the road excavation coordination framework, cost recovery penalties, and start an emergency telecommunications framework.
He noted that the rapid completion of network quality upgrades was mandatory and non-negotiable.
Mr George said he had taxed the regulator to prepare a framework for customer remediation and sanctions, to ensure that customers were giving some benefits when service was interrupted.
He said a significant number of the cell sites serving the nation’s rural and remote communities still run on legacy 2G and 3G technology, stating that that older network adequately carries voice and text messages, which could not support the rigours of mobile money transactions, digital agricultural extension advice, e-leaning platforms or telemedicine consultations that increasingly defined their full participation in Ghana’s digital economy. 
“A farmer in a 2G community can call the markets to ask about prizes but she cannot on that same connection, list her products on a digital marketplace or receive a real-time weather advisory from the Ghana Meteorological Agency or draw down on a mobile banking loan,” Mr George stated.
He noted that the gap between having a significant signal and having genuine digital access was one that the Ministry was determined to close in the next year. 
He said this was why alongside the network expansion, they were placing deliberate emphasis on modernising the technology itself, not simply extending its footprint.
He stated that working with the NCA, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) and the mobile network operators, they were prioritising the upgrade of their ageing 2G and 3G mast and infrastructure in rural districts, to become 4G, 5G capable infrastructure together with a fibre and microwave back haul that was needed to carry that signal at real broadband speeds rather than in only name. 
Mr George said they had accordingly asked operators to ensure that the new role sites to be built build were 4G ready from the outset and to accelerate the retirement of legacy only equipment wherever traffic and terrain allowed.
He said early this year, the NCA undertook the most significant reform of Ghana’s 5G policy in recent years, and that following comprehensive regulatory, economic and legal assessment, the Board of the Authority approved it on 15th July 2026.
They removed one of the wholesale 5G exclusivity framework that had constrained competition in high-speed mobile broadband, he said.
He explained that request for applications for spectrum in the 700-megahertz, 2.3 gigahertz and 3 gigahertz bands had gone out, opening the sector to new investment, meanwhile the adoption of voice over LT, which delivered clearer calls and better data performance had nearly tripled from seven per cent to 22.43 per cent of total traffic and now reached more than 8.4 million subscribers across the country.
The Minister announced that the Ghana Domain Name Registry would conclude that the GH replicated agreement before the end of the year; declaring that they would pre-accredits 10 additional local registries and convene the Ghana DNS forum to advance the GH adoption.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo