Internet penetration grew by 10 per cent last year

Internet penetration in Ghana has increased from 5.2 per cent in 2010 to about 10 per cent in 2011, representing an increase of about five per cent in just one year.

Mr Joseph Odoi, Country Manager of Main One Cable Company who made this known at a customer appreciation breakfast in Accra stressed: “This has been largely due to the efforts of our partners who have contributed immensely to the growth of Main One in our almost two years of operations.

“No matter how innovative a company might be or how affordable its products and services are, without the pivotal support and cooperation of customers, the survival of such companies would be threatened,” he said.

Main One Cable Company is West Africa’s premier and leading provider of broadband Internet services to large telecommunication companies, Internet service providers (ISPs) and enterprises.

Mr Odoi said the breakfast meeting was an opportunity for Main One Cable to engage its partners and examine the issues that unites them as well as strengthening the partnership.

Commending Main One, Managing Director of Zipnet Broadband Wireless Services, Mr Ernest Brown, expressed satisfaction with the quality of services and products provided by Main One and its quest to eradicate the communication challenges that restrain businesses operating in Africa from being truly global.

Mr Brown, who is also the President of Ghana Internet Services Providers Association, said: “We can comfortably say that Main One is doing a good job in terms of costumer connectivity. With our last providers, we constantly had to chase them before we could discuss technical issues that affected us.

“With Main One, they are the ones doing the chasing, and they ensure that they engage us at least once every month, and address our challenges. Another thing is, before our connection with Main One, ISP providers could go down for days and this would affect our businesses. But now, when service goes off for five minutes, Main One alerts us.”

Similarly, Managing Director of BusyInternet, Praveen Sadalage highlighted the challenges the company faced before its connection to Main One Cable, which hinged on delivery quality, service issues, pricing and frequent outages.

However, the entry of Main One heralded is a revolution in internet penetration in Ghana.

Sadalage said, with the entry of Main One, prices came down, quality went up and customers started getting more capacity and phenomenal quality at same price. This, he stated, changed the entire dynamics of the ICT industry.

Other ISP partners that lauded Main One Cable at the event included the Chief Executive Officer of Ecoband Networks, Mr Alexander Sulzberger, among others.

Since the Main One Cable network went live in July 2010, the company has continued to break new grounds with its open access, wholesale broadband connectivity.

Main One Cable offers unmatched broadband telecommunications services which connect Nigeria with the rest of the world. It remains unrelenting in its effort to provide fast and efficient broadband connectivity to its customers across Africa to ensure that they tap into the benefits of the global market.

Main One Cable is the first submarine cable company offering open access, wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa. This objective is being realised through a submarine cable system which commenced operations in July 2010 linking West Africa to the rest of the world via Portugal and the United Kingdom.**