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| Girl Practicing ICT in Tanzania |
The
Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) has disclosed that in collaboration
with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, it is working on plans to make
“neglected” rural communities have access to Information and Communication
Technology (ICT).
LTA Board
Chairperson, Madam Angelique Weeks said rural and sub-urban communities that do
not currently benefit from communication and internet services provided by GSM
companies and the government are expected gain from a [communication package]
under the program: “Universal Access Fund (UAF) project.”
She noted:
“We will ensure that all licensed GSM operators contribute to the UAF project to
give access to people in areas perceived as uneconomic territories of Liberia
-- regions where network services do not exist.
The UAF
initiative is under a committee established by LTA, and chaired by one of its
commissioners, Harry Yuan, said Madam Weeks.
Commissioner
Yuan then revealed that the committee will shortly begin consultative meetings
with communication stakeholder to strategize and possibly adapt international
best practices in making everyone in the country get access to mobile phone and
internet technology.
LTA’s Weeks
further disclosed that an extra US$1 million has been provided from the loan
which the Government of Liberia took from the World Bank to bring into the
country the Fiber Optic Cable.
The Fiber
Optic Cable, intended to provide broader and speedy internet coverage in most
parts of the country, is yet to be operational as ‘installation formalities’
are still being worked out for a formal launch, said LTA sometimes this year.
“Liberia
is far behind countries like Kenya, Tanzania Ghana and others since the
liberalization of the telecommunication in the early 1990s; maybe due to the
civil upheaval -- even though the liberalization investment in ICT
infrastructures on the continent has largely been private sector-driven.”
“The LTA
Board of Directors continues to talk about the fact that licensed service
providers need to have significant presence in all of the counties,” she
indicated.
Madam Weeks
spoke last week at the Post and Telecommunication Ministry when Mr. Zotawon
Titus took office as Deputy Minister for Technical Affairs at the line
ministry.
He
remarks followed an inquiry by the chairperson of the House of Representatives’
Committee on Post and Telecommunication, Numene Bartekwa on the stance of LTA
and the private service providersto give equal communication and internet
access to ‘underprivileged residents in rural and sub-urban parts of Liberia’. Rep.
Bartekwa claimed that “GSM service providers are basicallyurban-based‘merely’
for profit-making whilerural communities are neglected.”
The Grand
Kru County lawmakers believed that although those companies were established
for making profits; they should consider their social responsibilities to
citizens by decentralizing their services and activities.
Liberian Observer
Liberian Observer