SARPONG'S BLOG

Broadband Communications Chamber (BCC), the umbrella body of broadband service providers in the country says there is need for the government to review the existing broadband policy to conform the current state of the industry. According to the industry players, the main ICT industry policies – the 2012 National Broadband Policy and Implementation Strategy and the Telecoms Policy do not appear to be relevant to the times.   3rd Left- Mrs. Ursla Owusu, Minister of Communications together with leaders of the BCC Industry players have pointed out that the broadband policy, for instance, does not capture Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) operations, Wireless Applications Services and other key emerging technologies, and it does not also address the issue of consolidations, which has started happening in the industry. The broadband policy does not even mention 4G LTE and yet that technology is here and the world is already moving on the 5G. The BCC made this known w...

By: Fred Yaw SARPONG fsarpong@theeventpr.com Mon-Tran is allegedly owing it workers over GHc195,000 as medical fees deducted from the workers salaries. The workers who numbered over 300 were sacked after Ecobank Ghana terminated the contract between Mon-Tran Ghana Limited and the bank; Accoding to the workers, the management of Mon-Tran deduct GHc15 from each worker slary every month. “Some of us never visited the hospital facility while others visited the place for ones. Other too never go there at all,” some of the workers complained. “We are over 300 workers. But saw a publication that we numbered 181, which it’s not true. If they claimed we numbered 181, then they owes us more than GHc195,000. A lot of us have served the company six years and above,” one worker (name withheld) further noted.  According to the Ecobank, the termination of the contract is part of the restructuring exercise the management of the bank is undertaking. The bank is expanding it...

Jumia Ghana, an online business platform recently won the E-Commerce Company of the year in the just ended Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) Awards held in Accra. There was excitement all over as the Africa’s number one online business platform winning that prestigious honour. Many could not hide their joy as the name ‘Jumia’ professed loudly with a sounding note of victory catapulting all and sundry to their feet to grace the majestic procession of Jumia to the stage. Jumiawas recognized for its tremendous impact towards Ghana’s E-commerce sector and contributing immensely towards Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It was said to have taken over Ghana’s electronic businesses and leading the support for the vision to convert Ghana’seconomy into a cashless society. Among its enormous attributes,Jumia on countless occasions, have been commended by its sellers and partners for striving for excellence. The occasion which was graced by His Royal, Kwahuhene, ...

Newly launched Ghanaian education website and application platform, College in Ghana ( www.collegeinghana.com ) has been shortlisted among top 150 innovations developed by young innovators under the age of 30 by the World Youth Summit Awards. The College in Ghana website and App is an online platform that shares vital admission information on higher education in Ghana, The shortlisted projects, which are from 90 countries, focus on digital solutions to any of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. College in Ghana was selected based on its mission on quality education, which focuses on “ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all." The shortlisted projects will be announced and winners will be invited to and awarded at the WSA Global Congress 2018 – slated March 20-22, 2018 in Vienna, Austria. Sharing insights about the impact of the project, Co-founder and Team Lead at Avance Media, Prince Akpah said the plat...

Ghana picked three awards at the just ended ITU Telecom World 2017 Conference in the technologically advanced city of Busan in South Korea. Team Ghana, led by the Deputy Minister of Communications, Nenyi George Kojo Andah won a certificate of recognition for commitment and participation the in conference and exhibition. Earlier, the Commonwealth Telecoms Organisation Secretary-General Shola Taylor had lauded Ghana for the unique public and private sector collaboration at the conference. The other two awards went to two private sector organizations, Subah Infosolutions and the Wireless Applications Service Providers Association of Ghana (WASPAG). Subah's award was for commitment and participation and also for being a partner of the ITU in the organization of this year's event. Subah sponsored the ITU App, which was downloadable on Google Play Store and Apple for free, and it provided participants of the conference with detailed information about the event ...

Adom News sources within the telecom industry has hinted that the license of Kasapa Telecom Limited, operators of Expresso telecom brand in Ghana will not be renewed after it expires in 2019. Deputy Director, Engineering at the National Communications Authority, (NCA) Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko dropped a hint on Ghana Day at the just ended ITU Telecom World Conference in Busan that the NCA had told one telco that their license will not be renewed after it expires. Even though he did not mention the name of which telco it was, highly placed sources within the industry has confirmed it is Expresso. The source said NCA has written officially to Kasapa in line with a three-year notice rule to inform them about the decision not to renew their license when it expires. But the source said per the rule, if the company is able to get an investor and turn around its fortunes within the three years, it could convince the regulator to renew the license on expiry. How we got here...

Secretary-General of the Common Telecommunications Union (CTO), Shola Taylor said he is highly impressed with the collaboration between the public and private sector organization that constituted the Ghana delegation to the ongoing ITU Telecom World Conference in Busan, South Korea. Ghana's delegation, led by Deputy Communications Minister Nenyi George Kojo Andah, comprised of five public sector institutions, two private sector institutions and one public-private partnership. Those from the public sector include the MOC itself, National Communications Authority (NCA), Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), National Information Technology Agency (NITA) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG). Those on the private sector side include Subah Info Solutions, Wireless Application Service Provider’s Association of Ghana (WASPAG), and the sole PPP was GCNet. Speaking to Adom News on Ghana Day at the ITU World, Shola Taylor said that was the kind of collaboration...

Ghanaian-owned revenue monitoring and anti-fraud company, Subah Infosolutions made a remarkable impression at the ongoing ITU Telecom World Conference with its novelty Happy Hour networking event. It was the first time a private organization or even country has held an event dubbed Happy Hour at any ITU event in the world and it was held at the plush LeaderSpace on the massive floor of the Busan Exhibition Complex (BEXCO). Director at Subah, Redeemer Kwame told Adom News when they proposed the idea to ITU, the latter was a bit nervous because it has not been done before, but it in the end "it was a very successful event." The Subah Happy Hour easily became one of the dedicated platformS forms for business to business and business to government networking that the ITU factored into this years event. It provided the unique and unprecedented opportunity for representatives of governments and private sector to network in a relaxed atmosphere over drinks and l...

  The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2017 conference opened today with an urgent call on governments as well as local and global ICT players to work together and connect the 3.9 billion people who lack ICT access in the world today. ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao, who made the call at the grand opening ceremony, observed that whereas it was refreshing to note that 95 per cent of the world today has mobile connections, it is sad note 3.9 billion people were yet to be connected. He said this year's ITU Telecom World, taking place in Busan, South Korea under the theme Smart Digital Transformation, Global Opportunities”, was therefore dedicated, among other things, to forging business to business as well as business to government partnerships as part of the drive to connect the unconnected. Houlin Zhao noted that special attention would also be paid to small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the ICT industry because they are doing a lot...