Some 120 communities along the Eastern corridors of the country will now have access to a high-speed internet broadband access following the inauguration of the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Backbone Project by President John Mahama.
The 800km fibre optic cable stretches from the Volta regional capital of Ho, and terminates at Bawku, in the Upper East region. The infrastructure, first of its kind to be constructed by government, was executed by Alcatel-Lucent, with support from the Danish government.
Inaugurating the project at Ho yesterday, President Mahama said the infrastructure will serve as a major boost to government’s e-governance agenda. He said, public institutions located in the 20 districts in which the cable spans, will have direct access to the high-speed broadband.
The President said the €38 million project will provide a solid foundation for services such as e-health, e-education among others with the potential to changing the lives of the people who tap into the fibre optic project.
“The Eastern Corridor project, is expected to improve call quality and call congestion and therefore stimulate more economic activities, generate employment opportunities and enhance the delivery of government services in a more timely and efficient manner,” Mr. Mahama added.
Using Alcatel-Lucent’s agile optical networking based on the 1830 Photonic Service Switch with 100G technology, the network will enable new business efficiencies, providing high-speed data links between central government offices and remote regional locations.
Danish Ambassador to the country, Margit Thomsen addressing dignitaries at the ceremony officially outdoor the project said Ghana is fortunate to have a very advanced technology from the onset unlike Denmark which had to undergo a difficult phase of undergoing systematic upgrades.
She was confident that the project will be put to immense use in order to enhance the lives of the beneficiary communities.
The project which commenced 2013, was an initiative of the National Information Technology Agency, the ICT policy arm of the Ministry of Communications.
Speaking at a press briefing after the project’s official opening, William Tevie. Director General of NITA said: “The new Easter corridor optical backbone network will offer a great number of direct socio-economic benefits for the communities within the catchment areas of this project. It will for example attract businesses, offer teaching and learning opportunities as well as telemedicine and new health services.”
Mr. Tevie was confident that the project will also bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas and create employment, “allowing us to take an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services.”