NCA Director Joseph Anokye
The Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Joseph Anokye, referred to the recent internet blackout that affected Ghana and other African countries.
The cause of the outage remains a matter of speculation, even as experts begin investigating the undersea cables.
In a press conference on March 24, 2024, Mr. Joseph Anokye said:
“I think we’ll know best once the ship arrives. The cable landing operators have tools they can use remotely to verify the connection, which they did.
“It just established the fact that there was no contagious traffic flow. But we can’t tell you exactly what happened. There are reports. But there is no substantive data that points to a specific problem. I’ve never seen it before,” he said.
Mr Anokye revealed that telecom company Telecel had communicated compensation plans to customers following the power outage, and expressed hope that other mobile network operators (MNOs) would follow suit.
He added that the NCA would intervene to ensure compliance.
“I believe Telecel has informed its customers that they will receive compensation.
“We hope other MNOs will follow suit. We will step in and ensure that happens. However, we have noticed that Telecel has been sending notices to subscribers for five years.” he said.
Looking ahead, Mr. Anokye outlined strategic measures to prevent future disruptions. The NCA directed MNOs to connect to new cable providers in the sub-region that currently do not have a presence in Ghana.
In 2023, the NCA licensed a fifth cable landing operator, Bayobab, which operates the 2Africa cable with a design capacity of 180Tbps (about 4.5 times the total capacity of existing cables).
The 2Africa cable is expected to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2024 or earlier and will be the only cable to encircle the African continent, providing geographic diversity and distance from existing cables on the high seas. I’m leaving it there.
Additionally, NCA has expanded its satellite license portfolio to include recent broadband satellite services, providing alternative connectivity for domestic and corporate users.
Mr Anokye highlighted the NCA’s efforts to work with sub-regional regulators and industry to expand terrestrial fiber between countries and strengthen the resilience of internet connectivity. NCA is committed to continuing active collaboration with the industry to ensure stable internet data services in Ghana.
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