A contract that would allow the second-richest man in Asia to benefit from Ghana’s need for 5G wireless service is being opposed by the legislative minority, who say the government is making a hastily agreed-upon “sweetheart deal.”
According to a statement from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s plan to launch a 5G network by partnering with Radisys Corp., a division of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., is a bad 5G deal for the debt-ridden country, which needs funds for crucial development projects. Radisys Corp. will provide network infrastructure, applications, and smartphones for Ghana-based Next-Gen Infrastructure Company (NGIC).
The initial job for NGIC, the 5G Mobile Broadband Shared Infrastructure Entity, will be to build a nationwide 4G/ 5G network. Furthermore, the company intends to work with MNO partners to launch FWA CPEs and smartphones with 4G and 5G capabilities in Ghana this year at a fair price.
But Ghana’s legislative minority is against a contract that would let the country’s second-richest man profit from the need for 5G wireless coverage, saying the government is making a hastily agreed-upon “sweetheart deal.”
Other NGIC partners include Microsoft Corp., Nokia Oyj, and Indian outsourcer Tech Mahindra Ltd. A 55% stake in the new company is held by two lesser-known African telecom firms, Ascend Digital Solutions Ltd. and K-NET. About 10 percent belong to the Ghanaian government.
Calls to the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization were not returned by a spokesperson, and a text message requesting information was sent after business hours. K-NET and Ascend Digital Solutions did not promptly respond to requests for comment either.
In the statement, the opposition caucus stated that if the government had decided to arrange formal bidding, the West African nation might have made between $400 million and $500 million up front. Instead, the caucus claims, the government awarded Next Gen Infraco a $125 million contract that is to be paid in annual installments over a ten-year period.
“The NDC caucus in Parliament holds the view that it is unconscionable that the government will hand over the precious and highly sought-after 5G spectrum of the country to a shell company for a pittance,” the caucus stated in the statement. “The country is in dire need of foreign exchange and non-tax revenue.”
The idea aims to duplicate the success of Ambani’s Jio Infocomm Ltd. in India. When Jio debuted its free phone calls and cheap broadband services there in late 2016, a number of rivals were forced to shut down while others combined.
It is widely known that cheap mobile data is now available to hundreds of millions of Indians. Jio is the biggest mobile operator in India, with 470 million users.
The world’s youngest and fastest-growing population is found in Africa. Global powers like the US, China, and India are vying for influence on the continent in spite of barriers like low-income customers and a lack of infrastructure.
The government of Ghana has set an ambitious ambition to connect the entire country to the Internet within the next six years. Three major cellular operators serve Ghana, which has a population of just over 33 million people: MTN Ghana, Telecel Ghana, and AT, which changed its name from AirtelTigo last year after Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Millicom International Cellular SA sold their stakes.
