Philip Sowah - Managing Director of Airtel Ghana

The fastest growing network with the most innovative products, Airtel Ghana, has officially launched the upgrade of its 3.5G service to 3.75G.

The upgraded service is to offer world class third generation experience to consumers.

In a speech, the Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Mr Phillip Sowah, said the newly launched 3.75G technology is a platform that will enable communities to expand their social and commercial horizons.

This he said,was part of the company’s plans to develop new and exciting data bundles to address the data needs of its consumers.

He said the first telecommunication company to launch the 3G service in Ghana, Airtel, and currently operating in all ten regions in the country, now has the 3G capability which allows users to make video calls, watch live TV, send and receive emails and download music from internet enabled devices.

Mr Sowah noted that the latest 3.75G technology championed by the company is the latest global HSPA+ technology with 21mbps, also being rolled out in Europe and the USA.

The head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs of Airtel Ghana, Donald Gwira, said the 3.75G platform will enable subscribers to combine the vast potential of the internet with the convenience of other devices including cellular phones.

“For the small and medium business, it will enable the entrepreneur to embrace a highly mobile way of working with high speed access to email and internet, and it will allow large companies to increase productivity through vastly enhanced mobile internet speeds and access to record and allow for communication via video calls on handsets,” he noted, explaining that the availability of the 3.75G has deepened Airtel’s coverage and speed level.

Source : Myjoyonline

In a rather interesting twist to the much anticipated launch of Glo unto the market tomorrow, the company has announced another postponement.

According to Glo, the rescheduling has arisen due to logistics constraints.

GLOBACOM had earlier indicated plans to finally launch its operations in Ghana as the sixth mobile phone service provider on November 17, 2011.

This was to follow the commercial launch of its GLO-1 submarine cable officially last August.

However, officials of Glo met with journalists this morning to announce that its launch has been rescheduled.

Checks with developments in the telecom industry also say that Glo’s new move could be a way of outwitting its competitors but Mr. Obesitan, the Events and Promotions director of Glo, downplayed such assertions.

He said “We are confident that with the infrastructure we have deployed and the amount of work we have put in to this, we will meet the expectation of Ghanaians.

“They [Ghanaians] have been waiting and we are doing a great job; it’s not a joke to build one thousand six hundred towers because we don’t intend to be a regional network but a national telecom operator from day one. ”

He added that technically, the company was ready to take off by way of receiving calls on the network, thus could cater for about ten million subscribers.

Meanwhile responding to concerns that the seemingly overstretched heightened expectation of Glo’s launch could work against the company, Mr. Obesitan said the delay was not deliberate and assured that the company was eager to begin operations.

Glo has, on another hand, commissioned an ultra-modern Call-centre at Spintex in Accra.

The fully built-in Call-centre has the capacity to handle close to 10 million customers and is also expandable. The facility operates in 4 languages; English, Twi, Ga and Hausa.

There are already test runs from various regions of the country through the call-centre to ascertain the operators’ readiness for the market.

GLOBACOM was granted the country’s sixth mobile license in June 2008 and has since been working tirelessly to launch its operations.

Source: Citifmonline

Minister of Communications Haruna Iddrisu has stated categorically that government would no longer tolerate sloppy services from the telecom operators.

He was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 10millionth customer of mobile telecoms market leader, MTN Ghana.

He said “government will no longer tolerate the slightest disruption of telecom service because of its implication for life and businesses and therefore the regulator will sanction all other activities that will lead to the disruption of telecom services to the Ghanaian consumer and it is in this context that I say that we will no longer tolerate any excuses.”

The minister’s statement comes in the wake of recent heavy fines on all five GSM operators in Ghana for sloppy services.

The National Communication Authority (NCA) slapped a total fine of GHC1.2 million on the operators for failing on key performance indicators, but the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications questioned the fine because the NCA ignored on-going negotiations between it and the operators and announced the fines.

The GCT also raised questions about the basis for the allegation of poor services, pointing to fibre cuts, cable and fuel theft, and stumbling blocks in the way of operators’ efforts to get permit and space to erect masts and provide quality service among other things as some of the reasons the NCA should have considered.

But the NCA insisted the operators should have communicated those challenges to the subscribers and also taken the necessary steps to deal with those responsible for the fibre cuts, as well as cable and fuel theft.

Mr. Iddrisu noted that the government’s new policy position on telecom was that telecom was no more a pleasurable and a luxury but a major essential service that had serious implications for businesses and life in general.

“Can you imagine if you are an armed robbery victim and you needed immediate services of law enforcement…your most reliable tool will be telecom services – Can you imagine if you were a bank and a customer was in urgent need of money which is not available at your branch…your best bet is telecom services.

“Can you imagine if a pregnant woman is in need of emergency care for purposes of delivery and even need an ambulance service…your most reliable and potent tool is telecom services. Can you imagine if there was a fire outbreak or floods and you needed to draw the attention of law enforcement or media…your most reliable tool is telecoms service,” the minister said.

He therefore pointed out that for the reasons above it would be too dear for government to allow telecom operators to get away with the slightest hint of sloppy services.

Mr. Iddrisu also noted that the telecom operators had raised issues with high taxes and challenges with business operating permits and fibre cuts, but he said nothing much could be done about taxes because government fed on taxes to fulfill its obligations to the people of Ghana.

He however assured the telecom operators that the ministry will set up an inter-sectoral committee to look into the issues of permits with the view to addressing the issue of road constructors who cut telecom cables and fibres.

On the issue of multiple taxes and levies by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), the minister told Adom News a consultant has been appointed to look into it, promising to follow it up to ensure that the consultant started work.

But Adom News is reliably informed that the consultant, in the person of Professor Kwamena Ahwoi, was supposedly appointed months ago, but has not been given a formal letter of appointment and no terms of reference.

Mr. Iddrisu also promised that from 2012 government will start giving tax incentives to telecom operators who extend voice and data services to the remotest and deprived communities of the country.

He also assured them that government will announce the abolishment of the stabilization levy in the 2012 Budget to ease the tax burden on the telecom operators and other businesses in country.

Source: My joyonline

Dakar, Senegal… The ICANN Board of Directors today passed a resolution to review a proposal from a special working group that would create a support system for deserving applicants of new gTLDs, many of whom are expected to be in developing countries. The Board further directed the President and CEO to develop a detailed plan by December 8, for the scoping and implementation of the recommendations.

“It is very important that deserving applicants, such as those from emerging economies, be included in the new gTLD program,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer.  “It is necessary to encourage diverse participation in this new program and to broaden the scope of our multi-stakeholder model.”

The ICANN Board of Directors also made clear today that it wants to enhance the organization’s policies relating to conflicts of interest, ethics, confidentiality and an overall code of conduct.

“We want to achieve a Gold Standard in terms of conflicts and ethics practices,” said Steve Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board.  “Specifically we are working on a system which will lay out how Directors interested in specific new generic Top Level Domain applications will be restricted from participation in the deliberations and decisions regarding the new gTLD Program.”

In closing ICANN’s 42^nd public meeting in Dakar, Senegal, the Board passed a resolution stating that, “ICANN will treat decisions relating to approving any single new gTLD application in an ethical manner and with care to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

ICANN’s next public meeting will occur March 11-16 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

To read the resolutions passed by the ICANN Board, go here

To download high resolution pictures from the Dakar meeting, go here

Source: ICANN

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google boss Eric Schmidt have warned governments worldwide not to over-regulate the internet.

Mark Zuckerberg stressed the internet couldn't be split into parts

Mr Zuckerberg said governments cannot cherry pick which aspects of the web to control and which not to.

The two are leading a group of internet pioneers to the G8 summit in France.

The delegation will deliver recommendations thrashed out at the first e-G8 gathering in Paris this week.

Although e-G8 had the blessing of President Sarkozy, world leaders are under no obligation to listen to its findings.

The comments by Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Schmidt reflect growing concerns in the industry about government censorship.

“People tell me on the one hand ‘It’s great you played such a big role in the Arab spring [uprisings], but it’s also kind of scary because you enable all this sharing and collect information on people’,” said Facebook’s founder.

“But it’s hard to have one without the other. You can’t isolate some things you like about the internet and control other things that you don’t.”

Mr Schmidt echoed his sentiments: “Technology will move faster than governments, so don’t legislate before you understand the consequences”.
‘Public good’

One of the most hotly-debated subjects at the e-G8 was protection of intellectual property on the internet.

In sometimes heated discussions, senior figures from the music, TV and film industries faced criticism from proponents of internet freedom.

Critics claimed that the event was designed to promote the views of rights holders, seeking to lobby governments for tougher copyright laws.

Professor Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School warned delegates: “We should say to modern democratic governments, you need to be aware of incumbents bearing policy fix-its.

“Their job is profit for them. Your job is the public good.”

Echoing the views of many participants, Professor Lessig suggested that governments should exercise light touch regulation or risk damaging the still-young internet.

Others made the case that if politicians remained hands-off in the belief that it would help innovation, then existing industries such as music and film would suffer.

James Gianopulos of Fox Filmed Entertainment said governments needed latitude to legislate, as in the case of the French three-strikes law designed to target illegal file sharing.

“The political process is imperfect,” Mr Gianopulos told the BBC.

“Private entities, individuals and industries are more likely to come to an agreement if they know that the next step is the litigation or legislation process.”

Source: BBC