Tigo Ghana and London-based telco ONEm Communications have partnered to launch SuperSMS network, providing access to what it describes as “a growing ecosystem of interactive SMS-based services.” in Ghana
A statement issued by ONEm says the merge between Tigo and Airtel Ghana has secured a potential market of over 10 million people, users that will have access to SMS-based services that ONEm says were not previously available over SMS and voice.
In early March this year Millicom and Airtel announced that Tigo Ghana and Airtel Ghana will combine operations in a new outfit to cover 80% of Ghana’s population.
In a statement, the companies say the combined business would serve nearly 10 million customers, of which 5.6 million are data customers.
It would cover more than 80% of Ghana’s population with high-speed data, 3G coverage and would have revenues of approximately US$300m.
ONEm is currently active in East Africa and the Middle East, and says the SuperSMS network offers a user access, via any mobile, to communication services with internet-like group chat and other interactive services for social communication, audio and text services, as well as self-help tools.
“Ghana is a progressive African nation with great potential, as evidenced by their technology programs; Ghana Space Science and Technology Centre, Innovations and HOPE City and Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine.
“We see many applications where SuperSMS can be used to bridge the gap between 33% of the people without data while providing a better and more suitable use the existing SMS and Voice infrastructure for those with data,” said Christopher Richardson, CEO of ONEm.