The plan by the government to break the monopoly in the telecommunications sector and the take-off of the distribution of Ghana National cards at 5,635 registration centres across all the 16 regions of the country are the trending stories in Ghanaian newspapers on Monday.
The Graphic reports that the government has directed the National Communications Authority (NCA) to enforce the provisions of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and the National Telecommunications Policy (NTP) to address disparities in market and revenue share in the telecommunications sector.Following the directive, the NCA will start immediately the implementation of specific policies to ensure a level-playing field for all network operators within the industry, with emphasis on maximising consumer welfare.
The Minister of Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, who disclosed this in Accra, said the latest reports received from the industry showed a worrying trend that demanded immediate action to correct the growing market imbalance and the creation of a near-monopoly in the industry.
The report added that MTN for instance currently enjoys almost 75 percent of the telecommunications market share.
The newspaper also reports that the Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, will today launch a new single digital payment platform, which is expected to enhance the government’s digitisation agenda.
The platform, called Ghana.GOV, will provide a single point of access for all services of ministries, departments and agencies of the government.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who disclosed this in Accra yesterday, said the introduction of the single digital platform was an addition to the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration’s digitisation of the economy.
He said Dr. Bawumia would also use the occasion to highlight the three main benefits of the payment platform.
The Times says that Ghana’s coronavirus (COVID-19) cases now stands at 9,462, latest updates from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) have confirmed.
The cases are up by 294 from its last update of 9,168.
According to the GHS, 90 more people have recovered from the virus increasing the recovery rate to 3,547.
Two more casualties however, have been recorded sending the death toll to 44. Both deaths, which came from the Ashanti Region involved two females aged 62 and 63 respectively with underlying health conditions including asthma, diabetes mellitus and acute cerebrovascular accident.
The newspaper also reports that the National Identification Authority (NIA) will from today commence the issuance of 3,875,441 Ghana cards to applicants in 5,635 registration centres across the country.
The exercise, according to a statement signed and issued in Accra on June 5 by Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Francis Palmdeti, Head of Corporate Affairs, NIA, would be completed on June 16.
It said the nationwide card issuance would enable 11,062,850 Ghanaians to possess Ghana Cards in good time to be used for vouching for their relatives or other Ghanaians, who wish to register during the nationwide Mop-Up registration exercise.
GIK/APA