Globacom’s US$250m submarine cable excites telecom market

Globacom’s Group Executive Director, Mr. Paddy Adenuga, has said that the country’s telecommunication sector is expected to experience exciting times with completion of the US$250 million Glo-1 Submarine fibre-optic cable connectivity, which will link Ghana to the rest of the world.

The 9,800 kilometre submarine cable, which runs from the United Kingdom through Mauritania, Morocco and 16 West African countries with dedicated extension to United States, was anchored at its landing station at Osu-Beach in Accra.

The completion of the fibre-optic cable facility is expected to make Internet access more reliable and also increase the transaction time in Internet connection from the current 120 gigabytes per second to 640 gigabytes per second.

Mr. Adenuga, who briefed the media in Accra at the landing site, said “The Glo-1 submarine cable will deliver transmission capacity that will radically change Ghana and Africa’s economic landscape by providing unprecedented high speed Internet services and make telecom services much faster, more reliable and cheaper for consumers.

“The landing is expected to mark the beginning of cheap bandwidth, which in itself will translate into many possibilities in the information and communications sector of the Ghanaian economy.”`

He further explained the system will position the country as the third nation, after Nigeria and Benin, to have the undersea fibre-optic cable, which will ease the difficulties and reduce the costs of switching traffic between African countries - without the need to go through Europe.

“It will provide broadband capacity to expand Internet access in the sub-Saharan region, which currently stands at less than five percent.

“Glo-1's current and ultimate capacity is enough to cater to the required broadband capacity of the country and the rest of the continent for at least the next 15 to 20 years.”

He noted that the landing of Glo-1 in Ghana will also boost preparation for the nationwide launch of Glo-Mobile Ghana.

Mr. Adenuga, who is the son of the telecom mogul, Mike Adenuga, anticipated that the landing of the Glo-1 submarine cable will push tariffs for international bandwidth to fall below 20 percent of the current market rate - with a much improved services such as easy downloading of information and effective international voice-servicing.

The Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, said landing of the cable marks a milestone in the country’s telecommunications ability to offer improved delivery of communications infrastructure and data services.

He said, in line with the government’s commitment to increase broadband uptake and penetration in the country, the ministry has given policy directives to the National Communication Authority (NCA) to promote investment in telecommunication facilities, including fibre-optic-based network transmission and submarine cable landing services.

“The landing of the Glo-1 submarine cable in Ghana along the West coast of Africa is a positive manifestation of an environment that is open, competitive and conducive for fruitful investment as made by Glo-Mobile Ghana Limited,” he said.

Mr. lddrisu lauded Globacom’s initiative for taking advantage of the healthy investment climate in the country to invest in information and communication technology infrastructure, which will facilitate the expansion of market opportunities for broadband service providers and thereby help reduce transaction cost.