West African nation, Ghana announced that it would upgrade its WIMAX networks to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technologies by the end of this year.

Ghana’s National Information Technology Agency (NITA) is spearheading the transition process and says the LTE is the ultimate standard for wireless communication of super high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.

It is also far more advanced than the 3G technologies currently being operated by telecom service providers in Ghana.

A senior official at NITA said, the move forms part of an agreement signed between the government of Ghana and Huawei Technologies to implement the second phase of the eGovernment network which is expected to witness the roll out of 30 more Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) bringing NITA’s total stations to 60 across the country.

NITA said with the deployment of LTE, it would provide 4G data and voice services on the eGovernment network.

“This will enable government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to have access to the latest technologies and improve upon doing government-to-government and government-to-citizens business,” an official from NITA said.

Under the agreement, NITA would complete deployment of all 11 pilot e-Services, which include online passport applications, drivers’ license renewal, birth and death registration, and business registration by the close of the year and expand the scope to e-Service deployment to other MDAs.