Ministry announces blanket ban on telecom masts

A report in Ghana Business News says the country’s Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) has imposed an immediate ban on the mounting of telecoms masts in Ghana, TeleGeography CommsUpdate reports.

Local reports cited a letter from MEST to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In the report, the EPA says roughly 50 percent of all communications masts were erected by service providers who did not obtain the required permit.

However, local cellcos are concerned the edict will adversely affect rural coverage.

Industry reels after parliament’s passage of telecoms bill

Tanzania’s Parliament passed a telecommunications bill that will make it mandatory for all mobile network operators to list on the country’s Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), TeleGeography CommsUpdate reports, citing the local newspaper The Citizen. 

The move provoked condemnation among firms affected that say it is a retrograde step for the industry moving the country back into the era of nationalization.