NCA says mobile, fixed penetration reached 75.4% at end-2010 (Ghana)

On 02.03.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Figures published by Ghana’s telecoms regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA) shows that the fixed and mobile penetration in the country reached 75.4% at the end of last year, up from around 71% at the start of 2010.

The watchdog’s figures show that the primary driver of growth is mobile usage: the cellular penetration rate stood at 74.2% at the same date, with more than 17.436 million registered SIM cards. Mobile growth in the second half of last year came despite a compulsory SIM registration scheme, which entered into effect on 1 July, and which was expected to dampen growth for the year, compared with 2009. The scheme is also expected to have pruned out a number of inactive and/or unregistered mobile users.

At the end of last year the NCA’s figures reveal that MTN Ghana led the mobile segment with 8.721 million SIMs, ahead of Tigo with 3.999 million, and third-placed Vodafone (Ghana) with 2.722 million.

Of the three other licensed cellcos, Airtel had 1.754 million subscribers, Expresso (formerly Kasapa) had 239,815 and Glo Mobile is yet to launch operations. Meanwhile, the two companies offering landline or fixed network services noted a significant drop in customers last year. Vodafone (formerly Ghana Telecom) reported 267,033 main lines in service at the end of 2010, down from around 284,000 at the start of the year, while Airtel had 10,864 lines, up around 8,000 year-on-year.

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Expresso assures to be different from Kasapa

On 12.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

The CDMA operator in Ghana, Expresso Telecom has stated that it would be completely different from its predecessor, Kasapa, in ways that mobile subscribers have not witnessed in this country before.

According to Marketing Manager of Expresso Ghana, Mr Frederick Quainoo, Kasapa used to do things in very small ways, but Expresso is going to do big things in Ghana and offer Ghanaians innovative services and big events. They are about to unleash products, services and events that Ghanaians have never seen before in this country. Kasapa hardly did any big events or promotions in Ghana, but those days were over. The CDMA technology allows for extended coverage and superior voice quality and Expresso has the capacity to deliver products and services to Ghanaians that were true value for money and the way telecom service was supposed to be. Expresso is the title sponsor for this year’s Joy FM Night with the Stars, and Ghanaians can expect more from Expresso in that direction.

Mr Qauinoo added that the company is yet to launch its big nationwide promotion, but the company has already installed enough equipment to provide nationwide congestion-free coverage, and is also providing dual SIM phones in collaboration with RLG Phones. Their dual SIM phones are the r221 and r222 among the RLG R-series phones, and they are already on the market.

Mr Quainoo further stated that the dual SIM phones allow users to access CDMA service on Expresso and GSM services from any of the GSM providers in the country. Expresso had also introduced what is arguably one of the fasted inter net dongles in the country.

As per Mr Quainoo, the dongle, dubbed: “CLIQ”, is designed to put the world at the fingertips of users, such that one click takes the user straight to what he or she was searching for on the web. The added value CLIQ brings is that often, the service is available in the office and also at home, and the user experiences the same qualit. The unique speed of CLIQ is as a result of the superiority of CDMA Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) revision, which is a technology that powers Expresso’s network.

Mr Quainoo urged Ghanaians to use CLIQ, saying it offers reliable, stable and secure internet connection with real-time video streaming, call and SMS functions and downloading and running of video clips in real-time.

Currently the company operates in Muaritania, Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea-Conakry and Ghana.

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Celtel evaluating plans to build mobile network in Ghana

On 10.17.06, In Mobile, By Editor

According to a report from Business in Africa Online, pan-African mobile operator Celtel International is considering plans to build a mobile network in Ghana and to that end is conducting a feasibility study regarding the construction of a network in the West African country. The online portal cites a Celtel official as saying that the company is interested in ‘investing substantially’ in Ghana, with the aim of getting a network off the ground within months.

Celtel International already has 15 networks on the continent of which five are in West Africa. It has not clarified whether it plans to introduce its ‘One Network’ service in the country a service that allows Celtel users to make use of networks in neighbouring countries without incurring additional roaming charges but says it is keen to expand its footprint across the entire African continent.

According to Telegeography’s GlobalComms database, Ghana is home to one of the most dynamic mobile markets in Africa. At the last count in June 2006 the number of mobile subscribers stood at over 3.34 million, up from around 2.65 million at the start of the year. By 1 July 2006 GSM operator Spacefon Areeba, backed by Lebanon-based Investcom Holdings, had an impressive 2.018 million subscribers, putting it ahead of Millicom International Cellular’s (MIC’s) Mobitel unit, the oldest of all the providers, which had 737,749 users to its Tigo-branded service. State-owned national PTO Ghana Telecom (GT) claimed an estimated 450,000 subscribers to its GT-OneTouch GSM network, while Kasapa Telecom, the country’s sole CDMA operator, had an estimated 135,700, up from 57,100 at the start of the year.

Source- http://www.telegeography.com

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