The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has directed that all Rural Telephony sites across Ghana be upgraded to a minimum of 4G.

He said the country could no longer justify providing rural communities with only 2G and 3G connectivity at a time when the world is progressing towards more advanced technologies, including 5G and 6G.

The Minister made the call during an inspection of Rural Telephony projects in the Eastern Region, where he assessed ongoing efforts to expand and improve telecommunications services in underserved communities.

Mr George said upgrading the sites would enhance the quality of mobile services, improve customer experience and help ease network congestion.

He stressed that telecommunications infrastructure should receive the same level of attention as other critical national infrastructure such as roads and hospitals.

“My challenge is that in today’s day and age, we say we’re connecting communities, and we give them 2G, 3G. The world has moved from 5G to 6G. So at least, we must give 4G to our network,” he said.

He said government must make a deliberate decision to modernise existing rural telephony infrastructure to ensure that people in rural areas are not left behind in the country’s digital transformation.

“My view on rural telephony is that at least we must give them 4G. As a country, we need to make a decision. We’re investing in roads, hospitals; we must invest in telecom, and we must decide to convert all rural telephony sites to a minimum of 4G and be ready for 5G as well,” he added.

The Minister said the initiative forms part of broader efforts to bridge Ghana’s digital divide and provide communities across the country with reliable and faster telecommunications services.