Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko, the acting Director of the Engineering Division at Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) has been presented for election to the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) (Region D) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The elections would be held during the Plenipotentiary Conference scheduled from September 26 to October 14, 2022 in Bucharest, Romania .  ITU Region D (Africa) has 3 slots on the RRB.

Ing. Fianko is an Electronic Communications Engineer with experience in radio frequency spectrum management, policy formulation, competition regulation, change management, ICT industry research and technical writing spanning over eighteen (18) years.

Extensive Experience in Spectrum Management

He began his professional career as a Frequency Management Officer in 2004 with the communications regulator in Ghana, the National Communications Authority (NCA).

As the acting Director of Engineering at the NCA, he has responsibility for all frequency spectrum management activities in Ghana including planning, licensing, monitoring and enforcement.

He initiated and provided leadership for the automation of the NCA’s spectrum management processes to improve efficiency, accuracy, transparency and convenience to users of the RF spectrum in Ghana.

He has led key national projects in the telecommunications sector in Ghana including but not limited to implementation of Location Based System (LBS) for Phone Calls & SMS to the National Emergency Number 112, determination and implementation of Significant Market Power measures in the Mobile Sector from April 2020 to date.

Additionally, he played key roles in the establishment of the Common Monitoring Platform for monitoring of Government revenues in the Telecom Sector from January 2018 to June 2020 and the transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television in Ghana on which project he served as Secretary and Technical Advisor to the national committee from 2010 to 2017.

Ing. Fianko was also instrumental with the coordination of various spectrum licensing projects from 2008 to 2020 including the 6^th mobile licence and licences in the 800MHz, 2600MHz.

He is currently the Chairman of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Task Group on Development of Spectrum Recommendations for Rural Connectivity and Technical Advisory Committee (TechCom) of the ITU Policy and Regulation Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA).

He is also an Alternate Director for Ghana on the Board of Directors of the Regional African Satellite Communications Organization (RASCOM) headquartered in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, January 2022 to date.

Vision for the Radio Regulations Board (RRB)

Ing. Fianko’s vision is to support the enhancement of transparency and efficiency of the RRB’s working methods through diligent, ethical, fair and transparent interpretation and application of the Radio Regulations with fidelity to the ITU Constitution, the Convention and the decisions of the World Radiocommunication Conferences.

Ing. Fianko is also a Reverend Minister with the Methodist Church.