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NCA calls for introduction of affordable smartphones


By Fred Yaw Sarpong
The National Communication Authority (NCA), the regulator of the telecom industry is calling for the introduction of affordable smartphones onto the Ghanaian market.
This is to allow majority of Ghanaians to get access to the huge data capacity and also been able to have access to the internet services at their own convenient time.
The Deputy Director General of NCA, Albert Eninful said this in Accra at the launch of the Expresso ACE submarine cable, which stretches from France to South Africa with landing sites in five West African countries, including Ghana.

The US$700 million 17,000km-long cable connects 23 countries and it is owned by a consortium of 19 companies, including Expresso-Dolphin, a partnership of the Expresso Group and Dolphin International.

ACE comes to Ghana as the second largest on the West-African coast, with 5.12terabits/second capacity, to add to the country’s huge capacity of redundant fibre optic capacity from the MTN’s WACS, Glo One, Vodafone’s SAT-3 and the independently-owned Main One.
According to Mr. Eninful the authority is aware that both Nokia and Huawei are expected to introduce affordable smartphones like Nokia Asha 501 and Huawei 4Afrika Ascend W1 onto the market.
He asked both companies to ensure the immediate release of those handsets in Ghana so that more Ghanaians can have access to affordable smartphones and access the internet. ‘Smartphones is expensive in Ghana and majority of Ghanaians are not able to afford them,’ he added.
In Ghana, Samsung mobile is leading the smartphones category in Ghana, far ahead from any other brand.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics says it has developed technology that could sit "at the core of fifth generation (5G)", the successor to the fourth generation (4G) mobile communications standard.

The company says its equipment is capable of transmitting data at more than 1Gbps across a distance of up to 2km (1.2 miles).

It suggests that the technology would eventually allow users to stream ultra-high-definition video while on the move. However, one expert says the news needs to be put in context.

Prof Rahim Tafazolli, who heads up the University of Surrey's 5G research efforts, suggests that even if the latest development was used, it would only be "a small part of the larger jigsaw" of technologies needed to deliver 5G.

His words carry weight since his own £35 million project to develop a 5G standard is part-funded by Samsung, according to BBC.

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