One of Ghana’s major operators is rolling out solar solutions to bring mobile coverage to rural communities. Tigo Ghana has deployed the Altobridge’s satellite-backhauled, solar powered solution, bringing mobile broadband and voice services to many remote areas for the first time. 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.