About Us
Universal Access is a mandate of the ITU from a WTO recommendation to all member states of the UN as the most feasible means of bridging the digital divide which exists between rural and urban communities. The Telecommunications Law of 2007 mandates the LTA to implement the universal access program.
The majority of our poor people live in rural communities and the Pro Poor Agenda of national government targets to impact positively on the lives of these people.
Objective
Our objective is to manage and fund the provision of telephone and broadband services to the community centers of the rural areas as well as to schools and medical centers in these rural communities
Telecommunications service providers like any business entities have concentrated their operations and major investments mainly in major urban areas where they can maximize their profits. This has left several rural communities unserved and underserved for the most part. The LTA has no tool to compel the provision of service to these unserved and underserved communities since the communities lack the profit potential to justify business investment when the service providers have been charged fees for licenses and spectrum usage.
The LTA has already established the instruments to govern the program and are in the final stages of completing the deployment of its rural telephony program. The program will subsidize the erection of low cost communications towers that will implement 2G services. The program is to be funded through levies from service providers, international donors and contribution from government.
With the rollout of the universal access program there is going to be a tremendous boost in the growth of our poor people of rural Liberia through agriculture, health and education. The universal access program is also going to enable rural dwellers to call an ambulance readily without having to walk several hours to get access to network before doing so.
With the rollout of the universal access government programs of e-government, e-commerce, e-health, etc. will begin to get actualized.