Deputy Minister of Information Jacob Korok, NCA Director General Napoleon Adok and other delegate pose for a photo at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Bucharest, Romania. (Photo: NCA Facebook Page.)

The Director-General of National Communication Authority said the government plans to fully connect the country with fiber optics in the next four years.

Fiber optics is the fastest medium of transmitting information over long distances, providing homes and businesses with affordable internet, telecommunication and television services.

According to Napoleon Adok, the communication authority also plans to extend the connection to Eastern DR Congo and Central Africa Republic.

Adok says the initiative could make South Sudan the center of connectivity to other neighboring countries.

Adok made the remarks in an interview at the ongoing high-level conference organized by the International Telecommunication Union in Bucharest, Romania.

“We have undertaken development and prioritizing connectivity as our agenda. For the next four years we are planning a fiber optic cross country,” he said.

“We intend to connect with our neighbors in the Red Sea area through Sudan and Indian Ocean through Kenya and Uganda and by extension, we also seek to connect the same to Eastern Congo and Central Africa making as the center of connectivity.”

Speaking to media during the event, Adok also said his country is facing numerous challenges, including curtailing cyber-crimes and catching up with new technological advancement.

“Technology is evolving every year and new concepts are up logging. New crimes are emerging so the biggest challenge we are facing is training the human resource to catch up with the cyber-crime issues to distinguish between freedom of press and deliberate distortion of information.”

“We have seen that with Covid and misinformation about the girl child education and all this element how fast we can caught up to build a work force to ensure access to information is protected as enshrined in the human rights law.”

The International Telecommunication Union is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technologies.

Established in May 1865, ITU is the global focal point for governments and private sector which primarily help the world communicate through three core sectors; radio communication, standardization and development.

South Sudan delegation to the conference is headed by Jacob Korok the Deputy Minister of Information and the Director General of National Communication Authority, Napoleon Adok.