In 1958, the West African country of Ghana was the first African country to gain independence from Britain, heralding a wave of decolonization on the continent. Ghana is now also leading the way on WiMAX, announcing that Internet Ghana and Navini will install a WiMAX networks in the capital, Accra. The Accra deployment will soon be followed by rollouts in 10 additional cities, with an emphasis on cities that serve as regional commercial hubs.
Maryvonne Tubb, a Navini Networks spokeswoman, noted that Africa is ripe for wireless deployments of all kinds. One reason is the absence of a wired infrastructure. WiMAX, especially in its mobile version, will be of great use in rural, under-served areas. EETimes reports that initially, Internet Ghana offered its service through its satellite earth station at Adabraka and linked to the U.S. through the Verestar Internet backbone. Currently, the ISP is connected through SAT-3/WASC from Accra to Portugal, then connecting by trans-Atlantic cables to Sprint facilities in New York.
For more on Ghana's WiMAX deployment:
- see W. Gardner's EETimes report