Vodafone Ghana has announced a launch of its 4G network service across major cities in Ghana on Tuesday, 19 March 2019. The introduction of the 4G service forms part of Vodafone-Ghana’s drive to ensure that its customers have better internet services.
The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Yolanda Cuba, revealed at the pre-launch that their technical team have been able to fast-track the process for an early launch of the 4G service scheduled for later in 2019. She said the company has more than 200 mobile sites across the country where customers can access the 4G service. She also disclosed that the company is investing about $100 million to upgrade existing sites and new ones it intends to establish.
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“Prior to the acquisition of the 4G network, we indicated to you that customers will be able to get the service by the second quarter of the year, I’m happy to announce that there has been a massive support from the technical team and all members at Vodafone, hence we will launch commercial operations of the 4G services next week— 19th of March, 2019. This will mean an improved network quality for customers and all our services,” said Cuba.
Vodafone Ghana reached an agreement with the National Communications Authority (NCA), at the end of 2018, for the purchase of one slot of the 2x5MHz frequency spectrum in the 800MHz band for mobile services. It was awarded a license at the cost of $30 million following the successful financial negotiation with the NCA, in line with the Authority’s published programme for the bid process.
Vodafone wasn’t the only company to bid for the 4G licence from the National Communications Authority, Quantum Oil was the other company to bid for the spectrum. The 4G licence went to Vodafone at the cost of $30 million, following a successful negotiation with the NCA. MTN Ghana previously purchased their 4G licence for about $68 million. It will be the second operator in Ghana to launch 4G LTE, three years after MTN.