GLO MOBILE GHANA LAUNCHED IN GHANA IN A GRAND STYLE

 

The long awaiting roll out services of the sixth telecom operator in Ghana GLO Mobile Ghana, has finally seen the break of dawn as it finally launched its commercial services in a grandest style in Ghana by parading a hosts of Ghanaian Icon or celebrities from the Music, movie and the media fraternity to grace the much anticipated launch of all times by a telecom operator in Ghana. So

The official launch of Glo Mobile services in Ghana which was held in the plush five star hotel in Ghana on Sunday was attended by the Executive Director of Glo Mobile Ghana Mr.Adewale Sangowawa, the chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Ambassador. Kabral Blay Amiheri, the President of the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr Ransford Tetteh and the CEO of Ovation Magazine, Chief Dele Momodu. Almost 1.5 million Ghanaian mobile subscribers on Monday,to will wake up to experience a brand new network with a prefix code 023 attached to their already seven digit numbers that is set to change the face of mobile telecom operation in Ghana.

In his address the Chief Operation Officer of Glo Mobile Ghana, Mr. George Andah express led his immense gratitude to the first the President of Ghana the Republic of H.E Prof. John Evans Attah Mills according to Mr. Andah “whose proclamation and help substantially removed some of the stumbling blocks we had encountered in the process of rolling this network”, and “the numerous vendors, suppliers, technical partners and our own staff for their commitment to our vision and dedication to work”.

He said even though Glo face daunting challenges, some of which were beyond its control, they were motivated by the physical and emotional encouragement of Ghanaians from the ordinary man on the street to the captain of industry and top Government official. “Whenever we encountered Ghanaians at the airports, on the streets, in taxis and at social circles, the question on everyone’s lips is “Glo, when will you launch?” The affection is glaring, so infectious and we were touched whenever we heard the personal experiences of people who had even bought handset they will use for their Glo’s SIM, well before we could supply them”

Mr. Andah who looked physically charged up for the occasion in his white Ghanaian smock attire with the official green Glo inscription embroided in it assured the Ghanaian subscribers a modern and reliable telecommunications service that they’ve been yearn for.

The Chief Operation Officer then called on all Ghanaians from all backgrounds and all walks of life to Stand Proud and joins the Glo network. He maintained that Glo is committed as ever to its vision to build the biggest and best telecommunication network in Africa and still determine to use the Globacom success story to make a powerful statement to the rest of the world.

Already about One million, Five hundred subscribers have reserved their lines on the Glo network, which has to handle over 10 million lines. With the launch, subscribers can start redeeming their reserved numbers now in every part of Ghana

Glo Mobile Ghana is also kicking off its service with an amazing product called Good Day Ghana which enables all Glo Subscribers to enjoy mouth-watering offerings such as Free Unconditional 20Gp airtime daily for 100 days: Free calls from Midnight to 5:00am: Bonus on In-Coming Calls: Up to 100% Bonus on Recharges; and Sweet Number which enables subscribers to call one special person at 2Gp per minute.

In an interview with BiztechAfrica at the launch, the Chairman of the National Media Commission and also a former ambassador to Ivory Coast, Mr. Kabral Blay-Amihere commended Glo for honoring its promise to Ghanaians, although it has kept many Ghanaian subscribers waiting Glo’s launch marks another mile stone in the history of Ghana’s telecom industry. He therefore called on Glo Mobile Ghana to roll out its services that are second to none in system, so that Ghanaians will feel their impact as anticipated.

He assured Glo of his Commissions support and that of the media fraternity at all time and wish the sixth telco the best in its endeavor.

Mr. Adewale Sangowawa who is the Executive Director of Glo Mobile Ghana told BiztechAfrica that the launch of Glo network services in Ghana is significant to the Ghanaians subscribers because Glo is going to offer services that would beat the rest on the market. He expressed confident in the Ghanaian subscribers, that they are going to massively going to embraces Glo Mobile not just because of emotions but the products and quality services that Glo Ghana will offer.

 

Nana Appiah Acquaye

NCA BLAMES TELCO AGENTS FOR THE INVALIDATION OF SUBSCRIBERS SIM CARDS

As time fast approaches for 3RD March, 2012 closing date for the registration of Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) card by the National Communication Authority in Ghana, many subscribers stands a great chance of loosing their cards since their numbers have not been validated by their various telecom operators. About 60% of subscribers have been notified by their operators to re-register their SIM cards for fear of perpetual deactivating of their SIM cards. Mr. Mawuko Zomerlo from the National Communication Authority (NCA) explains that these problems exist because most telecom has given the registration to agents who don’t really care about making sure the right thing is done. In a monitored interviewed BY BiztechAfrica, Mr. Zomelo noted that about 4 million subscribers have had their SIM card registration not valid and for that matter need to see an agent for re-registration.
He blamed the telco’s for leaving such a crucial responsibility to agents and further disclosed that he had had numerous calls from friends and love ones about how some agents are going about selling unregistered SIM cards to prospective subscribers. “I have had friends and family members calling me to informed me that they’ve been sold unregistered SIM cards unknowingly and so they wanted to check from me whether they can still use it, it’s unfortunate for these developments to take place”
One frustrated subscriber Margret Amene Danquah who resides in Dansoman, a suburb of Accra told BiztechAfrica that she just received a text message from her Vodafone Operator that she will be losing her numbers if she fails to register it. But according to her, Vodafone agent bearing Vodafone ID cards came to her home to register her SIM, so she finds it difficult to understand why such a text message has been sent to her phone.
Another MTN Subscribers by name Lambert Wilson disclosed to BiztechAfrica in an interview that he also received a text message warning him of loosing his SIM card, because his card wasn’t registered. He said upon checks at the MTN office, it was revealed to him that his card has been registered and that the message he received was an error from MTN.
On February 1, 2012, Ghana’s parliament adopted the SIM Regulation, 2011(L.I 2006) to give backing to SIM card registration in the country. The legislation provides that from March 3, 2012, no SIM card can be used if it is not registered. Consequently, no mobile network operator shall be able to activate a SIM card for a new customer without it having registered.
Also existing subscribers who have either not registered their SIM cards or whose earlier registration is invalid are required to re-register, failure to do so will amount to the deactivation of ones SIM card without any prior notice.


Nana Appiah Acquaye

LIMITED TECHNOLOGICAL KNOW HOW HINDERS GHANA’S BIOMETRIC EXERCISE

The first phase of the National Biometric Voters exercise which got under way a week ago has not only witnessed a high level of patronage from voters, but serious technological challenges slowing the whole exercise nationwide.
Despite assertion by the principal public relations of the Electoral Commission, Ms Sylvai Annor that officials of the EC has been given the adequate logistical training to operate the equipments, there has been loads of complaints across country of poor handling of equipments, limited technical knowhow and lack of service training by alleged trained officials of EC. Malfunctions of printers, automated thumb print machines, digital cameras and laptop computers have been in the news from over 6,000 registration centers.
A visit by BiztechAfrica to some of the registration centers at the Ablekuma Central Constituency revealed the frustration some trained officials of the EC have to go through with even the fixing and operating these digital machines at their disposal.
With the regular occurrence of these unfortunate developments, it is feared by majority of Ghanaian especially political groups in the country that the biometric registration exercise might end up been a fiasco.
A consultant on biometric applications, Dr. Ahmed Gedel told journalists reasons why the registration is marred by these technical irregularities. He attributes it to the current climatic in the country and the inadequate training of officials conducting the exercise. “Because the kit operators were not “well trained” there are some lapses in their work.

Dr. Gedel further observed that some kit operators keep piling pressure on the printers used for the registration exercise thus leading to their malfunctioning. “Some of them (kit operators) instead of issuing one command for printing, some of them go to issue two, three, four and eventually the printer gets locked up because of too much information sent”
But in spite of all these difficulties the program is under going through, the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Djan believes strongly that the first phase of the exercise will end successfully.

Nana Appiah Acquaye

TIGO GIVES CHILDREN A REASON TO SMILE DURING EASTER

Tigo Ghana extended its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to some orphanage and under privileged homes in Accra during the Easter festive season, where it treated over 200 kids from Osu Children’s Home, Street Academy and AbaCode to an exciting two- hour show at the first ever Circus in Ghana.
It was amazing to watch the delight and excitement on the faces of these kids as they made their way into the circus grounds to watch amazing motor bikes stunts, fantastic acrobats and breath-taking animal entertainment. The applause and shouts from the kids as the show went on was enough testimony of the good time they were having.
Mr. Tenu Awoonor, Head of Marketing Services for Tigo Ghana told BiztechAfrica Tigo is proud to associate itself with the Italian National Circus to put smiles on the faces of these children.“Tigo is proud to be associated with the Italian National Circus’ first ever visit to Ghana and as part of Tigo’s efforts to make this experience a lasting one on Ghanaians, we are happy to give these children the Easter experience they otherwise would not have had. Inspiring the lives of children and putting smiles on their faces on such a day is an honor for Tigo.”
Mr. Awoonor further added that Supporting Communities and Improving Lives is still a major key in all Tigo’s CSR projects with uplifting children being the main focus.
Each child went home with a Tigo gift pack after all the fun and excitement at the circus. It was a memorable day for the children who hardly enjoy such moments.
Marie-Eve Lemeux, the Head of AbaCode Ghana, Ataa Lartey Head of the Street Academy and the leadership of the Osu Children’s Home expressed their gratitude to Tigo for granting these children an Easter treat since they rarely get such opportunities. They jointly urged other corporate organizations to emulate Tigo’s example.Tigo has once again succeeded in putting smiles on the faces of these children and given them yet another unforgettable day in their lives.


Nana Appiah Acquaye

MTN Ghana launches New MTN Business Unit

MTN Ghana has added another new unit to it existing units called the MTN Business unit, established purposely to provide innovative and cutting edge communications service to public and private sector organizations, Small, Medium and Large Scale Enterprises. Among some products and services that MTN Business offers includes: Leased Lines (National & International), Last Mile Access, Dedicated Internet, Shared / Dedicated IP Connect, VPN over Mobile. Others include Wi-Fi Hotspots, Co-Location Hosting Services, Convergence, Hosted Messaging & Collaboration and Cloud Computing & Virtualization.

Speaking to Biztech Africa during the unveiling of the unit at a ceremony in Accra, the Ag Executive of MTN Business, and Richard Densu disclosed that the establishing of a commercial entity like MTN Business, is to offer converged ICT solutions to businesses in Ghana reliable and efficient services. He noted that in today's corporate world, businesses cannot survive without communications services and this is what MTN Business seeks to offer and said "MTN Business is dedicated to the provision of end-to-end; diverse, reliable and cost effective ICT solutions to the business community in Ghana. These and many other initiatives are in line with MTN's unrelenting effort to bring world class telecommunications services to Ghanaians."

Solidifying customers confidence in the service delivery of MTN Ghana Mr. Densu mentioned how MTN has invested in technological infrastructure to serve as back bone for their three Data Centers in Accra and Kumasi which has high capacity to support businesses with Data Recovery Sites, Servers, Rack Spaces, Backup systems and many others to meet the ICT needs of organizations.

He gave the assurance that with laying of infrastructures the fiber optic and microwave networks across the country and beyond "it gives MTN the opportunity to support the expansion and connectivity needs of your businesses. We are also able to provide your business with dedicated and shared internet services virtually anywhere your business is located".

GHANA GEARED UP TO IMPROVE RURAL COMMUNITIES WITH ICT

The Ministry of Communication in collaboration with allied agencies is vigorously pursing the universal access agenda to provide Information Communication Technology infrastructure and service to people across in the country. The National Communication Authority (NCA) National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Ghana Metrological Agency (GMA) and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) are supporting service provider, Public service organization and communities to harness the full potential of ICT.
The Deputy Minister of Communication Mr. Ernest Attuquaye -Armah who disclose this during the celebration of the International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication and Information Society Day in Accra, Ghana, stated that the collaboration with ministries of Health, Agricultural, Education, Local Government and the District Assembly will extend broadband infrastructure to health institutions, schools and colleges and also the community Information Center, through the disbursement of Universal Service Funds, contributed by the communication service providers
Speaking on the year’s theme: Better life in rural communities with ICT, the Deputy Minister of Communication said the theme is to alert stakeholders on the need to employ the enabling capacity of ICT to improve the quality of the life in rural communities
He indicated that by the declaration of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), it is our common desire and commitment to build people centered, inclusive and development oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and people achieve their full potential in promoting the sustainable development and improve their quality of life.
This year’s celebration he noted enjoins all stakeholders , policy makers ,regulators, telecom operators, private investors and industry to come together to promote the adoption of policies and strategies that will promote better life in rural communities with ICT.

by :Benjamin Appiah Acquaye

AFRICA IN THE WAKE OF BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE –GLO-1 PUTS GHANA ON THE DIGITAL MAP.

The unveiling of the international fiber optic submarine cable in Ghana by Globacom Ghana Limited known as Glo-1 was a welcoming news indeed for the Government of Ghana, the industry regulator- National Communications Authority (NCA), and stakeholders in the ICT industry. Although Ghana wasn’t the first West Coast African country to have access to this facility, since Nigeria was put on this platform somewhere last years or so, many expert in the telecom sector in Ghana believe that this initiative by Globacom to place Africa on the Digital Drive with the rest of the world is a giant dream come and must be well celebrate for. Not only does it demonstrate the can do spirit of the African entrepreneur but a good signal to the rest of the world that Africa is now ready to Bridge the Digital Divide.
Bridging the Digital Gap between Africa and the world was thought to be a phenomenal task which will last for decades, before Africa would catch up with the rest of the world when it comes to the Digital Divide. But with the wit, ingenuity, and the excelling power to succeed by the African entrepreneur has witness the emergence of a new breed of corporate African institutions with close collaborations with their various governments aiming at bridging the Digital divide, and that is seen to be the case of Global Telecommunication Limited and other such institutions like Main One Cable Limited.
In the words of Communications Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, who welcomed the Glo 1 launch, Ghana has made giant and tremendous strides in the area of telecommunications and that “even the socialist among us will agree that when we say that liberalization has no dividend, we certainly cannot say so for the telecoms sector. We are today reaping [from] the foundations that were laid for a liberalized regime of the telecoms sector and allowing the private sector to take its pride of place.

“Mine will be to commend Globacom Limited, at least the launch of Glo 1 today in my conception, is West Africa’s Indigenous response to the need for global connectivity and this is the first time that we are having such a major investment come from an African, meant for an African, and connecting with the rest of the world and you deserve our commendation.”

He appealed to Globacom to reserve some of their additional value added services-related businesses for Ghanaians, “whether in the area of the printing of scratch cards, whether in the area of security, whether in the area of providing diesel or manning cell sites,” he said, “we will be happy that it generates some additional business for the Ghanaian people and that is how we can share in their entry to the market.”

Vice President John Mahama, special guest, predicted that in the not too distant future, the capacity of bandwidth available to a country will determine its status of development rather than GDP. He therefore welcomed the increase in bandwidth availability in Ghana with the arrival of Glo and its launch of the backbone infrastructure and services, which he said will deepen competition and provide alternative choices, comparable pricing and improved quality of service for the benefit of Ghana’s communication sector.

“It will be common in future to be asked not of the size of the GDP of your country but of the size of bandwidth that is available in your country,” he said, emphasizing the determination of the government to develop ICT infrastructure that will provide abundant capacity to carry high speed voice, video and internet facilities to all districts of Ghana.

“I say this because towards the end of 2008, the uptake of broadband in Ghana stood at one percent which was extremely low and inadequate for meaningful development. With the arrival of Glo 1 and other submarine cables the total bandwidth capacity of 2,040 gigabytes will be available to Ghana… It is therefore expected that the increase in bandwidth capacity will be more than adequate to meet the increasing demand for communication services, promote and support business process outsourcing industry in Ghana by creating jobs and revenues to government while exerting a downward pressure on prices as a result of increased competition.”
Governments and its various bureaucratic institutions are waking up from their slumber to the new dawn of era where things are down the digital way therefore acknowledging the essence of the placing much attention to the developments and improvements of the necessary infrastructures that propel the growth of technological advancement in their countries.
It is a welcoming news when government also forge close collaborations with industry players to ensure a smooth and an enabling playing ground where both parties sees each other as partners in the market, delivering quality yet affordable services to the end user.

By:Benjamin Nana Appiah Acquaye