New connectivity for rural Ghana

TELECOMS

Tigo Ghana and international firm Altobridge have partnered on a project to take mobile voice and broadband to rural Ghana.

Tigo and Altobridge Limited, which specialises in technology that cuts the cost of delivering mobile connectivity, have now completed the first phase of the satellite-backhauled, solar powered solution, on the Tigo Ghana mobile network. Altobridge reports that subscriber uptake and usage levels in these hitherto unconnected, rural village communities, have surpassed all parties’ expectations.

The project has been funded by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), an implementing agency of the Ministry of Communications set up by the Government of Ghana to facilitate the provision of access to  ICT, Internet connectivity and communications infrastructure to under-served and un-served areas of Ghana.

“In a short space of time, we have demonstrated that a local entrepreneurial entity, with strong support from Government, can focus on and profitably deliver communications to remote communities and enterprises. This approach not only accelerates mobile voice and mobile broadband penetration, but also offers incremental revenue to the mobile network providers,” said Mike Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Altobridge.

Commenting on the partnership, Richard Hlomador, Founder & CEO of K-NET, said: “To make this business model work, K-NET needed an ultra-low operating cost, reliable solution that can be rapidly deployed and which is easy to install, maintain and operate. This solution from K-NET and Altobridge provided precisely that.”