Mobile phone penetration rate is said to be on the increase in Liberia, but one area that is yet to have access to GSM signal in real time is Bokomu District in the west of this West African country.
Reports from Moalaquelleh, the headquarters of Bokomu District, Gbarpolu County say pregnant women and all other residents cannot get signal from the two existing GSM companies. Gbapolu is just over 133 miles from the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
It they ever, it is by sheer luck or they, including even pregnant women, will have to climbing a big tree to get signal to call their relatives and friends in and outside Liberia.
A report published by the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) on March 29, 2019 said: “The growth of mobile and internet use continues at a robust pace. In the LTA’s report “Public Consultation Document on the Definition of Relevant Telecommunications Markets,” published in 2016, mobile penetration stands at approximately 75 percent while internet penetration is at 21 percent; both numbers are high relative to Liberia’s income.””
Even though, the LTA says the prospects for the GSM sector is high, the people in this part of Gbapolu County will have a wait much longer to have easy access to mobile phone signal.
Reports from the area say the situation with not having ready access to GSM service is not just long-running, but their desperate efforts to climb trees to scoop signal is causing some serious injuries to residents.
Besides climbing trees, other residents of Gbokomu and other places have to go to the Mountain. Some do this on foot or by motorbikes when they want to make calls. In some cases, some are on this journey for more than an hour. In some cases, they are not lucky to get signal after all the efforts.
The Moalaquelleh District residents usually use ladder to climb the plum tree just to communicate with their friends and loved ones or participate in a radio talk show discussion.
Meanwhile, locals in this area are calling on the Liberian government and the GSM companies to see reason to extend GSM network infrastructure in this part of the country, so that they can be a part of the digital communication world. Report by Never G. Lomo,garmahlomo@gmail.com with contribution by Our Staff Writetl