Ban on telecom mast off today

The Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu has said that the government has resolved to lift the ban on the erection of telecom masts by the close of today.

This, he said, follows the completion and adoption of new guidelines on the construction of communication towers in the country.

Mr. Iddrisu who said this at the celebration of the World Telecom and Information Society Day earlier this week explained that the inter-sectoral committee comprising personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Communications Authority (NCA), the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and National Security set up to develop a set of guidelines for the institution of a one-stop-shop permitting scheme for the deployment of communication towers has just completed their job to bring some order in the way communication towers are erected in the country.

The guidelines are also expected to ensure that the relationship between cell site network availability is strengthened.

“I know the ban on the erection of masts has affected your operations but it was necessary to bring sanity into the system. I want to assure you that we have now resolved to lift the ban by the end of this week,” he told a gathering of the telecom operators at the World telecom day.

“Government will not just ignore the concerns of the public and therefore the initial decision by the Ministry was to put in safety gap that will assure people that government is concerned about the associated health hazard, which is also directly linked to electromagnetic effect,” Mr. Iddrisu emphasized.

The directive communicating the ban was contained in a letter dated January 12, 2010 from the Ministry of Environment to the EPA.

There are estimated 15.7 million mobile phone subscribers in the country now and the growing demand for mobile services have necessitated the increase in communications infrastructure such as towers; which are needed to ensure that there are adequate network coverage and access that guarantee minimum Quality of Service (QoS).

In recent times, the rampant installation of telecommunication masts throughout the county has raised concern over public health and safety. The rush for land for that purpose also stirred some land disputes, sparking public protests and conflicts.

According to the EPA, about 50 per cent of all communications masts in the country were erected by service providers who did not obtain the required permit.

Source: B&FT