Google launches Project Link in Ghana

Accra , Oct. 6, GNA - Google has launched its Project Link, an initiative to help connect more people to fast and affordable broadband Internet in the Ghanaian cities of Accra, Tema, and Kumasi.

Project Link, part of Google's larger efforts to help get more of Africa online, would build more than 1,000 km of fibre that would give local providers more speed and capacity to work with to meet the escalating demands of Internet users.

'Ghana's creators and entrepreneurs are inspired by what they can do online, but today, their ability to participate fully on the Web can be hindered by the availability, quality and cost of Internet access. We aim to change that,' said Estelle Akofio-Sowah, Google Ghana Country Manager.

"With the help of Project Link, Internet providers in Accra, Tema and Kumasi will have access to a superfast fiber network that can help them enhance their services and meet the bandwidth needs of Ghana's biggest cities,' she added.

While Ghana has several undersea cables that reach its coast, the challenge remains to get that bandwidth closer to Internet users in densely populated cities, where demand is the greatest.

To bring this infrastructure closer to cities, Project Link would build a metro-area fibre network that connects local providers to long distance fibre lines.

Akofio-Sowah said any local Internet service provider or mobile network operator would be able to tap into Project Link, increasing access to shared local infrastructure and providing abundant capacity that can support the best of the web and lead to new services such as 4G or fibre-to-the-home.

By working with providers in Ghana, Project Link could help enable higher-bandwidth, lower-cost broadband services to businesses and consumers.

Construction on the network started earlier this year, with service planned to go live in early 2016. This is the second country where Project Link has launched, after Uganda, and the first time the team would build in multiple cities at once.

'The launch of Project Link can help improve infrastructure sharing in Ghana by providing needed backhaul capacity for the increasing bandwidth requirements of Ghanaian Internet and data users,' said Ernest Brown, President of the Ghana Internet Services Providers Association.

'This is a great initiative for the country's telecommunications industry and we look forward to participating in its growth.'

The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, lauded Google for the initiative and said it could benefit students to enrich their knowledge.

GNA