We welcome 5G with open arms
Ghana’s Fifth Generation (5G) technology is ready to go live on November 1.
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The wireless technology will offer users a higher internet speed, higher upload and download speed, with more consistent connections and improved capacity.
The Graphic Business joins the nation to welcome this new evolution as it stands to enhance business activities in the country.
To us, this is also exciting because it is an indication that Ghana is not being left behind when it comes to the technological advancement.
What the paper finds even more intriguing is the fact that government is seeking to accelerate the delivery of digital services.
The Graphic Business is aware of the benefits this new service brings.
For instance, it will ensure faster internet speed. Many SMEs depend on the internet for most of their transactions. 5G is, therefore, expected to enable them to enjoy seamless data downloads, uploads and streaming, making operations more efficient and effective.
5G also comes along with an enhanced mobile workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic brought in its wake the need for people to work from home.
Invariably, they have to depend on the internet. It was observed that the slow nature of the internet speed impacted how people worked from home.
It is expected that 5G will further empower employees to work remotely, but still be able to access company information and collaborate with colleagues in real time.
There is also going to be improved customer experience. Many SMEs today post pictures and videos of their products online. They also interact with their customers remotely.
5G will enable them to do that better while the customers will also have the opportunity to see exactly what they buy. Aside from that, it will offer SMEs the opportunity to respond promptly to customer enquiries, process orders efficiently, and deliver products and services on time.
There are many advanced technologies that SMEs have for which reason they need high speed internet. 5G will help them to leverage innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality to drive business growth.
Much as this is an exciting piece of news for the country, we are aware that the government issued the 5G service licence to Next Gen InfraCo, a new shared infrastructure company, which is co-promoted by the government and seven other industries.
The partners for the service as indicated by the government are Ascend Digital, K-NET, Radisys, Nokia, Tech Mahindra, AT Ghana, and Telecel Ghana.
However, industry giant, MTN Ghana, is not a part of the consortium, raising doubts about how successful the launch will be in the absence of a major player that has more than 60 per cent market share.
We are also aware that there is some opposition to the deal.
While we trust in the process so far, we also believe that as the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire and, therefore, we urge the sector ministry and government for that matter, not to ignore the issues raised but investigate and find ways to address the challenges to satisfy all the players.
The benefits of the service are enormous not only to individuals but to businesses, small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), in particular, and therefore nothing should interfere to change the narrative for the wrong reasons.
Having followed the discourse so far, we are aware that there are lingering issues that MTN has raised regarding the formation of the consortium, among many other concerns.
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Much as the benefits of 5G to the economy far outweigh the interests of one company, it must be noted that in this industry, the involvement of a key player cannot be overemphasised.
MTN being the leader in the industry cannot be left out of the partnership because their absence might affect the entire deal in one way or the other.
As it stands now, we need all on board and, therefore, addressing whatever issues there are is necessary and we must all be interested in finding ways to get MTN on board.