Mr. Prince Ofosu Sefah, the Administrator of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), says the Fund is poised to continue to make electronic communication accessible to underserved and unserved communities. He said the Fund had implemented several innovative Programmes toward advancing its core mandate and building a common future to ensure a highly advanced connected digital society, supported by robust ICT infrastructure, for accelerated National Development. Mr Sefah speaking at the maiden edition of 'Time with the Editor' organised by the Fund said one such project being implemented was the Rural Connectivity Programme, which sought to extend the coverage of mobile telephone services as far as possible into all areas of the country where access to such services were not adequately available. He said it was also to extend to where existing licensed operators had proven unwilling or unable to expand their networks due to commercial or other technological constraints. He said the programme also ensured the provision of Internet Points of Presence in underserved and unserved communities. He said the Rural Telephony Project (RTP) also aimed at closing the void created by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) during their rollout. He said the project connected rural communities in Ghana with a population below 1,000, with voice and data services. The project adheres to the following components: Tripartite cooperation model between GIFEC, a Mobile Network Operator and a Private Investor, for efficient CAPEX and OPEX. He said the sites were solar and grid-powered and 400 sites had been deployed within three years of the project. The Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project is an extension of the RTP, which commenced in 2021, with funding from the Government, that sought to extend Network Coverage in 2,016 Rural Areas (up to 3.5 million residents) through the provision of voice and data access. He said the project adopted efficient sustainability mechanisms in its deployment, suc h as the use of green energy solutions like solar energy for over a third of the Network Sites built. Source: Ghana News Agency