Minister highlights Sierra Leone’s telecom challenges

Sierra Leone needs assistance in the implementation of a national optical fiber cable backbone, said Mohamed D. Koroma, deputy minister of information and communications.

Highlighting the challenges facing the country's telecommunication sector, Koroma appealed to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and The New Partnership for Africa's Development Friday at the West Africa: ICT Road Map to Opportunities Conference in Accra, Ghana.

"We are thinking here about a possible accommodation of Sierra Leone into the WAPP [West African Power Pool] project and into the Pan-ECOWAS optical fiber network infrastructure," he said.

Plans for three high-speed, lower-cost broadband transmission cables were interrupted by Sierra Leone's war, Koroma explained, exacerbating the need for a fiber optic cable, plus proper spectrum monitoring.

"We need to train and develop personnel to handle spectrum management equipment for efficiency [and] secure mobile monitoring vehicles and complimentary tools, such as geographic digital maps and relevant software programs, for spectrum analysis activities," he said.

Koroma admitted that limiting the cost of service and providing universal access will prove challenging, and he asked that ECOWAS, ITU and key stakeholders in Sierra Leone aid the National Telecommunications Commission in addressing these issues.

He also asked for the recruitment of a consultant to review licensing fees, tariffs and charges for telecommunications services, spectrum and numbering resources to ensure adherence to the ECOWAS Supplementary Act.