Ghana's rural communities are still running on 2G and 3G — and the country's Communication Minister has had enough of it. Samuel Nartey George, Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, has issued a directive ordering that every Rural Telephony site across Ghana be upgraded to a minimum of 4G connectivity.
The minister made the call on September 5, 2026, during an on-the-ground inspection of Rural Telephony projects in the Eastern Region, where he assessed ongoing efforts to expand telecommunications services in underserved communities.
"The World Has Moved From 5G to 6G"
George was blunt about the state of things. Ghana cannot keep telling rural communities they are being connected when the infrastructure being deployed is a generation behind the rest of the world.
"My challenge is that in today's day and age, we say we are connecting communities, and we give them 2G, 3G. The world has moved from 5G to 6G. So at least, we must give 4G to our network."
He went further, framing telecom infrastructure as a national investment priority on par with roads and hospitals — not an afterthought. "We are investing in roads, hospitals; we must invest in telecom, and we must decide to convert all rural telephony sites to a minimum of 4G and be ready for 5G as well," he said.
What the Upgrade Is Meant to Fix
According to George, upgrading the rural sites would do more than just boost speeds. It is expected to improve overall mobile service quality, lift customer experience, and help ease network congestion — a persistent complaint in areas currently stuck on older infrastructure.
He stressed that the government needs to make a "deliberate decision" to modernise existing rural telephony infrastructure so that people outside major cities are not left out of Ghana's broader digital transformation push. The initiative, the minister said, is central to bridging the country's digital divide.
The Bigger Picture
Rural connectivity has long been a weak spot in Ghana's telecoms story. Urban centres like Accra and Kumasi have seen steady network improvements, but communities in regions like the Eastern Region — where George made his inspection — have largely been served by legacy infrastructure that was never designed for the data-heavy demands of modern mobile use.
The minister's visit to those Eastern Region sites signals that this directive is not just rhetoric. It is tied to active, ongoing projects the government is already monitoring. Whether telcos and state infrastructure bodies move quickly on the upgrade — and how it'll be funded — are the questions that'll define whether this push actually reaches the communities it is meant to serve.
George has been vocal since assuming the Communications portfolio, and this latest move puts clear, measurable pressure on the rural telephony programme: 4G as a floor, not a ceiling.