The ban on the erection of telecommunications masts will be lifted by the end of the week, the Communications Minister has said. Mr Haruna Iddrisu said guidelines have been drawn for the issuance of permits by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology for the siting of masts and that the way had been paved for the ban to be lifted. Speaking at the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day & Consumer Forum, organised by the National Communications Authority (NCA), Mr. Iddrisu said the building of masts was necessary to “address some of the issues of Quality of Service and bring sanity into the indiscriminate siting of these masts.” He said improving accessibility and service was a priority to the government. “By the Declaration of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), it is our common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life,” he stated. The minister said, “The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, is equally directed with immediate effect to intensify the supply of computers to schools, to ensure that 80% of schools are supplied by June 2012. The supply to deprived schools should be addressed in the first instance. It is noted that 38 Training Colleges are to be connected this year. “To enable the effective implementation of the Government's education policy, the Ministry will engage the Ministry of Finance and Members of Parliament to consider offering special tariffs for schools, and tax breaks for operators providing connectivity to schools.” He noted that, “It is in this regard that our infrastructure deployment plan has been designed to make it universal, accessible, equitable and affordable. The emphasis on broadband is primarily to bring high-speed internet to all parts of the country and provide a platform upon which solutions and strategies will be delivered to expand and improve education, improve governance, health delivery, facilitate commerce, finance and banking, support agriculture and environment, etc. “We are encouraged that our present telephone penetration level as at January this year was nearly sixty-seven percent (67%). In respect of the Millennium Development Goals, and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) established minimum penetration level of 25% by the year 2015, we can say in Ghana that we have made tremendous strides.