Ghana VP, Mahama applauds Glo-1

As the Glo 1 recently heralded its services in the city of Accra, capital of Ghana, the Vice President, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, has applauded Globacom for its Glo 1 initiative.

Mahama was special guest at the launch of Glo-1 at the Banquet Hall, Accra; a multi-million dollar submarine fibre optic communication facility which connects Ghana and West Africa to Europe and North America, as duly launched.

ITRealms Online recalled that Globacom’s international submarine communication cable, Glo-1, has become commercially operational in Ghana.

Speaking at the event held recently, Ghana’s Vice President, Mahama, said the launch of the Glo-1 high-capacity submarine fibre optic cable would add 640 gigabytes bandwidth capacity to Ghana’s broadband infrastructure.

He also said that Glo-1’s arrival would go a long way to support the implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-led socio-economic development policy and an e-strategy plan for the government in its bid to establish Ghana as an ICT hub within the sub-region.

“Globacom’s programme to rollout a modern cellular network in Ghana promises to ignite the communications landscape in the coming months. We therefore look forward to a rewarding engagement in the development of broadband infrastructure in Ghana,” he said, asserting that

“We want to congratulate Globacom for this momentous achievement. I am proud to have lived to see this moment. As one of the earliest pioneers in telecom liberalization, I am proud to see how far we have come with this major investment by an African company in the telecom sector. I believe that this occasion will serve as the ‘appetizer’ for the eventual arrival of the Glo Mobile network.”

The Group Chief Operating Officer, Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, highlighted what he described as the multiple benefits to accrue to Ghanaians from Glo-1’s broadband capacity if the society optimizes the facility’s infinite capacity.

“Ghanaians and Africans in general now have the limitless potential of being connected to a new era of prosperity where bulk data that can instantly be used to transform lives and climb the social and economic ladder can now be downloaded and uploaded at the speed of light”, he said.

He also said Globacom will not relent in its commitment to avail Ghanaians of the very best telecommunication infrastructure through the Glo-1 submarine cable and through the Glo Mobile Ghana network when it becomes operational.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Deputy General-Secretary of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr. Houlin Zhao decried the low level of access to the internet in Africa, observing that while mobile cellular teledensity in the world has almost hit the 80 per cent mark, and is well over 60% in Ghana, the great majority of the world’s people still lack access to the internet.

“Here in Africa, fewer than one in ten people are online and only a fraction of them have access to a broadband internet connection. There are two things we need to do, and I am happy to say that cables such as Glo 1 will help us achieve both. We need to make broadband access much more affordable, and we need to make it much more widespread,” Mr. Zhao said.

The highpoint of the launch was the live demonstration of Glo-1’s video-conferencing capacity, during which Mr. Adewale Sangowawa, Globacom’s Executive Director of Human Resources and an invited guest interacted with an excited Mr. Nicholae Centurniar, Vice President of Cable and Wireless (Middle East & Africa) in his office in Milan, Italy, a distance of about 11,000 kilometres away from the venue of the launch.

Dignitaries, including former President John Agyekum Kufuor, were highly impressed by Glo-1’s sheer speed and clarity of sound and images.

Remmy Nweke:
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