Minister Samuel Nartey George: No Single Operator Will Gain Early 5G Advantage in Ghana
Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has made it clear that no telecommunications operator will be allowed to secure an early lead in the rollout of 5G services, as the government pushes for a coordinated national launch involving all players.
Speaking in a sideline interview at the Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, the minister outlined a deliberate policy to ensure a level playing field in the market.
“I think that we would achieve our rollout with the sale of the spectrum that we want to do, and we want to do it in such a way that every player in the market gets a fair opportunity to roll out 5G together,” he said. “I have been clear in my policy direction to the regulator. One network will not roll out 5G. All networks will roll out 5G on the same day. We will have a national launch that will carry everybody.”
He explained that the National Communications Authority will tie future 5G licences to a national roaming framework. Any operator that secures spectrum first must allow others at least six months to prepare their networks before launching commercially. Once live, the leading operator must permit roaming on its 5G sites at cost price, preventing any price arbitrage or unfair advantage.
The minister’s comments came in response to recent claims by Next-Gen Infraco (NGIC) that it had received formal confirmation from the NCA to begin commercial wholesale 4G/5G operations. Mr George dismissed those assertions as misleading, pointing out that NGIC’s current deployment of just 49 sites — 43 in Greater Accra, two in Ashanti, and one each in Western, Northern, Bono and Central regions — falls far short of a true nationwide rollout.
“When government has announced that we are going to do an auction of 5G, rushing to put out this to try and rattle the market is actually not a very smart way of dealing with a regulator, especially when you are in default of the regulator,” he said. “In Greater Accra alone, we have over 1,600 cell sites. So if someone has 43 cell sites and says they have rolled out in Greater Accra, or in the whole of Ashanti region says it has two cell sites and says they have rolled out 5G, how is that a rollout?”
He added that NGIC remains in default of certain licensing obligations, including unpaid fees dating back to September last year, and has been formally notified of the breach.
The minister confirmed that the NCA is already engaging industry players on the national roaming framework ahead of the planned 5G spectrum auction. He also highlighted recent regulatory reforms — such as technology neutrality and revised quality-of-service benchmarks — that have encouraged major operators like MTN Ghana and Telecel Ghana to announce significant network expansions this year, with hundreds of new cell sites expected to improve coverage and service quality.
Mr George said these developments reflect the government’s shift in regulatory approach: moving from rigid enforcement to enabling innovation and investment while ensuring fair competition and broad access to next-generation services for all Ghanaians.
