Ghana - Convergence, Broadband & Internet Market

Synopsis

Ghana was among the first countries in Africa connected to the Internet and to introduce ADSL broadband services. The sector is highly competitive with more than 140 licensed ISPs, although the bulk of the market is in the hands of only a few. Internet penetration is still very low at around 5%, mainly due to the poor condition of the national fixed-line network and the high cost of connectivity. The emergence of wireless and mobile broadband technologies is now speeding up developments, and the planned arrival of alternative international fibre links in 2009 has begun to put pressure on the current monopolistic pricing of international bandwidth. The recently re-privatised national carrier, Ghana Telecom is expected to be more effective in the future in driving the broadband market by expanding its retail as well as wholesale offerings under the new Vodafone banner.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. Internet market
  
  • 2.1 Overview
    
    • 2.1.1 Internet statistics
      
  • 2.2 Limited availability of PCs
    
  • 2.3 Internet access locations
    
    • 2.3.1 Shared access centres
      
    • 2.3.2 Mobile Telecentre To-Go
      
  • 2.4 Dial-up
    
• 3. ISP market
  
  • 3.1 Major ISPs
    
    • 3.1.1 Network Computer Systems (Ghana.com)
      
    • 3.1.2 InternetGhana
      
    • 3.1.3 Africa Online
      
    • 3.1.4 Linkserve
      
    • 3.1.5 IDN
      
  • 3.2 Ghana Internet Service Providers Association (GISPA)
    
  • 3.3 Ghana Internet Exchange Point (GIX)
    
• 4. Broadband market
  
  • 4.1 Overview
    
  • 4.2 Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
    
  • 4.3 Wireless broadband
    
    • 4.3.1 iBurst
      
    • 4.3.2 WiMAX
      
    • 4.3.3 WiFi
      
    • 4.3.4 CDMA (Kasapa)
      
  • 4.4 Powerline Communication (PLC)
    
  • 4.5 Internet via satellite
    
• 5. International bandwidth
  
  • 5.1 SAT-3/WASC submarine fibre
    
  • 5.2 Other international fibre projects
    
  • 5.3 O3b
    
• 6. Domestic backbone network infrastructure
  
  • 6.1 Ghana National Public Data Network (DataNet)
    
  • 6.2 GT FastNet
    
  • 6.3 VoltaCom
    
  • 6.4 Internet Solutions (IS)
    
  • 6.5 Electronic Data Interchange
    
  • 6.6 VSAT networks
    
• 7. Convergence
  
  • 7.1 VoIP telephony
    
  • 7.2 Broadband TV (IPTV)
    
  • 7.3 E-Commerce
    
  • 7.4 E-government
    
  • 7.5 Distance learning
    
• 8. Related reports
  

• Table 1 – Internet users and penetration rate – 1996; 1998; 2000 - 2010