NIGERIAS Globacoms high capacity submarine cable, Glo 1, has gone live in Accra, Ghana and poised to connect the West African nation to Europe and other parts of the World on its destination list.The 9,800 Kilometer long submarine cable network berthed on the beaches of Osu in Accra and set to deliver affordable, high speed internet connectivity to local businesses as well as bridged the digital between Ghana and the rest of the world.The launching, an elaborate two-tier showpiece - first with the media at the Holiday Inn Hotel and then with the corporate world at the Banquet Hall of the State House, turns out a huge relief from a long wait and a fitting closure to the often repeated question of when Glo was rolling out after securing its license and completing initial set-ups.Speaking at the ceremony, Ghanas Communications Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, commended Glo for rolling out the fibre-optic cable stating that Ghanaians have anxiously waited for Glo after it secured operational licence in June 2008.Mine will be to commend Globacom Limited, at least the launch of Glo 1 today in my conception, is West Africas Indigenous response to the need for global connectivity and this is the first time that we are having such a major investment come from an African, meant for an African, and connecting with the rest of the world and you deserve our commendation, Haruna noted.He appealed to Globacom to reserve some of their additional value added services-related businesses for Ghanaians, whether in the area of the printing of scratch cards, whether in the area of security, whether in the area of providing diesel or manning cell sites, he said, we will be happy that it generates some additional business for the Ghanaian people and that is how we can share in their entry to the market.Ghanas Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, who was special guest at the occasion, stated that with global trends in information technology, in not too distant future, the capacity of bandwidth available to a country will determine its status of development rather than GDP. He said the government of Ghana is committed to making its citizens reap the best from information and communication technologies (ICTs). It will be common in future to be asked not of the size of the GDP of your country but of the size of bandwidth that is available in your country, he said.In his message at the occasion, chairman of Globacom Mike Adenuga stated that Glo 1 will usher in a new era of prosperity for Ghanaians as its benefits will impact rapidly on the transformation of education, manufacturing, agriculture, health, entertainment and commerce, fuelling the national economy as a whole towards higher productivity and wealth.Also speaking at the occasion, Mohamed Jameel, Group Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, noted that due to the seamless connectivity of the Glo 1 submarine cable, which connects Ghana to the rest of the world with the Glo Ghana nationwide optic fiber cable, farmers in the different regions of Ghana for instance will now be able to access high yield seeds from any part of the world which they can plant and harvest to enhance their economic power. He expressed delight that the Glo 1 submarine cable, sponsored 100 percent by an indigenous African entrepreneur, will avail Africans of huge potentials. We assure you that we shall not relent in our avowed commitment to avail Ghanaians of the very best telecommunication infrastructure through the Glo 1 submarine cable which is being commissioned today and through the Glo Mobile Ghana network when it becomes operational.
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