Accra, May 12, GNA - MTN Ghana, a telecommunications company, on Wednesday added another portfolio to its communications solutions, an initiative promising a world-class, limitless and cutting-edge business communications platform to boost the development of small, medium and large enterprises in Ghana. Christened 93MTN Business", the platform is geared towards converging Information and Communications Technology (ICT), thus providing a one-stop-shop for all ICT needs of individuals and corporate entities with innovative, robust and cost-effective communications solutions.

"It is time Ghana leveraged the growth prospects of the growing telecommunications sector to speed up socio-economic development, explore the opportunities broadband brings and provide easy access to high speed connection to the internet," Micheal Ikpoki, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, said at the launch of the Business platform in Accra.

"We are particularly eager to develop small and medium enterprises of the economy through our customized solutions. MTN shares these ideals of business and development and remains a committed partner to Ghana's socio-economic development," he said. The platform offers products and services including, leased lines (international and national), dedicated internet, shared IP connect service, VPN over Mobile, Wi-Fi Hotspots, Co-Location Hosting services, Hosted Messaging and Collaboration and Cloud Computing and Virtualization.

It is expected that businesses that latch onto MTN's Business Solutions would reduce operational and capital expenditures by leveraging on economies of scale. Such businesses would not need capital to set up their communications solutions, as MTN would provide such backbone for smooth business processes. "In Today's corporate world, businesses cannot survive without communications services and that is what MTN Business seeks to offer," said Mr Richard Densu, Acting Executive of MTN Business. "MTN Business is dedicated to the provision of end-to-end, diverse, reliable and cost effective ICT solutions to the business community in Ghana. These and many other initiatives are in line with MTN's unrelenting effort to bring world class telecommunications services to Ghanaians."

Mr Densu said MTN had invested in technological infrastructure including three Data Centres in Accra and Kumasi with high capacity to support business with Data Recovery Sites, Servers, Rack Spaces, Backup systems and many others to meet the ICT needs of organizations that sign unto the platform. He said other infrastructures such as the fibre optic and microwave networks across the country and beyond 93give us the opportunity to support expansion and connectivity needs of your business".

The platform would provide businesses with a seamless, dedicated and shared internet service anywhere those business are located. To support the core mission of MTN Business in Ghana, MTN has invested some 90 million dollars in the 14,000 kilometres West African Cable System (WACS) expected to hit Ghana's shores on May 13, 2011. The 5.12 Terabytes per second capacity cable will provide MTN subscribers in Ghana and across Africa with the envisaged bandwidth upon the completion of supporting structures.

Communications Minister, Mr Harunah Iddrisu, pledged government's support to ensure that citizens and businesses had access to state-of-the-art ICT solutions, describing the MTN move as a 93major leap" in the economic advancement of the country. He called on Ghanaian businesses to harness the advantages of the solutions offered by telecommunications companies like MTN, exhorting other companies to strive to promote the growth of business in Ghana.

Trade and Industry Minister, Ms Hanna Tetteh, lauded the services of MTN, applauding the company for its innovation, saying their business solution would promote a lot of stimulus for economic growth. "We are excited about services of this nature that would make businesses more efficient because they drive the economy," she said.