GIFEC’s US$37m satellite hub takes off in Nov
The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has signed a US$37 million contract with British-based company, Dizengoff Ghana Limited (DWG), for the construction of a satellite hub to improve mobile phone and Internet coverage in the country.
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The very small aperture terminal (V-SAT) hub is to be hosted in Accra and the signals beamed across the country to help extend mobile phone telephony coverage to all rural communities while improving clarity in telephone calls and stability in Internet connections.
The Administrator of the fund, Mr Kobby Akyeampong, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in Accra that actual construction of the satellite would start later this month and would take about six months to complete.
He said at the launch of the fund’s 10th anniversary celebration in Accra that once the project was completed, people would require satellite discs, similar to the one used by DSTV, before they could enjoy the benefits.
The V-SAT can take a total of two million discs, he added.
He was confident the satellite would help improve the conditions of service in the communities, thereby raising the standard of living of the inhabitants.
With Internet and mobile phone services virtually becoming basic requirements of life, Mr Akyeampong said government had decided to increase investments in the extension of communication services to all communities to help ensure smooth connectivity.
Impact on cost
The Head of Projects at GIFEC, Mr Michael Adjei Techie, said in a separate interview that the V-SAT hub would help reduce the operational expenses of GIFEC by 10 per cent.
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Currently, the fund, which was established in 2006, spends some US$147,000 a month to pay for the services of a third party satellite that it uses to beam Internet and telephone connectivity to rural areas.
This brings to about US$1.76 million the total amount the fund spends in a year to help improve telephone and Internet connectivity nationwide.
The amount is expended on some 420 satellite discs dotted across the country, Mr Techie said.
However, should the new hub take off, he said the fund would have the opportunity to increase the number of discs to two million and still pay less per disc.
“With the current one, we pay US$350 per disc but with our own, we will pay just US$50,” he explained.
Mitigating cost of discs
Given that not all communities and individuals would be able to acquire the disc, the Head of Operations at GIFEC said the fund would be giving them free of charge to designated places.
“We will do it on communal basis. If a community registers, then we supply them,” he said, adding that the initiative would be an extension of its current free Internet supply to deprived communities.
The fund currently gives free Internet access to selected communities and schools throughout the country in line with its mandate of ensuring universal access to mobile telephone and Internet connectivity to all.