Liberian regulator to work on new universal access plan

Liberia’s Ministry of Post and Telecommunication and national industry regulator, the Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA), are jointly working on a plan to boost rural internet connectivity through a new ICT universal access plan. LTA chairwoman Angelique Weeks said that the government is committed to rolling out connectivity to areas not currently served by PSTN and GSM service providers via a new Universal Access Fund (UAF) project. Ms Weeks says that mobile operators will be required to contribute to the UAF to help deliver internet access to ‘people in areas perceived as uneconomic territories of Liberia: regions where network services do not exist’. The UAF initiative is being administered under a committee established by the LTA, and will be chaired by one of its commissioners, Harry Yuan. The new committee will shortly begin a consultation on implementing the ICT plan, with Ms Weeks also noting that Liberia has recently benefited from USD1 million in funding from the World Bank to deploy Liberia’s Fibre Optic Cable.