Ghana could be the first country in Africa to roll out Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, according to telecoms equipment maker Alcatel Lucent, giving it a head start over neighbouring countries and much of the developed world.

Speaking to journalists at a conference in Dakar in June, Alcatel Lucent’s vice president for North, West and Central Africa, Frederic Sallet, hinted to Ghana Business News that the company was working with mobile operators in the country with a view to launching LTE.

“We are in a lot of discussions on that subject for the Ghanaian market. And given the lead that we have on this market and the strong success that we have in the US and that we are starting to have with some operators in Europe, Middle East and Africa, I think Ghana could be a good place to start LTE,” said Sallet.

Faster speed, greater capacity

LTE is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data, based on GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies. It is used primarily to support high speed mobile broadband. In October 2010, the International Telecommunication Union formally anointed LTE as one of the ‘true’ 4G technologies.

The goal of LTE is to increase the capacity and speed of wireless data networks. Research conducted by Real Wireless on behalf of the British communication regulator Ofcom earlier this year found that initial deployments of 4G will deliver more than three times the capacity of existing 3G technologies, using the same amount of spectrum.

There are currently six licensed mobile operators in Ghana – MTN, Tigo, Vodafone, Aitel, Expresso and Globacom – all of whom provide GSM-based mobile services. Alcatel Lucent works closely with Vodafone (which bought the previous incumbent Ghana Telecom a few years ago) and Globacom, and recently developed a mobile advertisement platform for Tigo.

According to Cenk Kivilcim (pictured), Alcatel’s country senior officer for Nigeria and Ghana, while the company is keen to start deploying LTE in the country, it will depend on which operators are awarded 4G licenses.

“The Minister for Communications has the desire to improve the telecoms infrastructure in Ghana drastically, and that’s the reason they want to lead on LTE deployment,” said Kivilcim, speaking to eWEEK Europe. “But at the same time they would like to see Ghanaian companies contribute to the telecom landscape, and therefore they are requesting that a Ghanaian-owned company gets the LTE. “Of course, all the operators are interested in getting access to LTE services, and a number of operators are now trying to understand the capabilities of LTE; so they are engaging vendors like Alcatel Lucent to carry out trials,” he said. “This is at this moment the engagement we have in Ghana.

“When operators have access to the licenses, and when they are ready to push it on the commercial deployments, Alcatel Lucent is in a very strong position,” Kivilcim added.

Submarine fibre cable

Meanwhile, Alcatel Lucent recently helped Globacom to launch a high-capacity submarine fibre-optic cable system, built to carry data and internet traffic at high speed between West Africa and the rest of the world. The 9,800km long cable network, known as Glo 1, starts in Bude on the north coast of Cornwall, and reaches all the way to Nigeria, serving 14 West African countries on the way. Glo 1 runs on a huge capacity, upgradable to up to 2.5 Terabytes per second, and offers 99.9 percent uptime as well as long-distance voice, video and data communication services.

“Glo 1 will usher in a new era of prosperity for Ghanaians as its benefits will impact rapidly on the transformation of education, manufacturing, agriculture, health, entertainment and commerce, fuelling the national economy as a whole towards higher productivity and wealth,” said Mike Adenuga Jnr, Chairman of Globacom, at a launch event in April.

Kivilcim explained that the main problem for Internet users in Africa is that the majority of online content is developed in Europe or the US, and accessing this content over wireless technologies such as satellite is very expensive. By deploying fibre, people can access content quickly and easily, at a cheaper price point.

However, he also said that African countries need to recognise the opportunities that high-speed internet connectivity presents, and start developing their own content – particularly in areas like telemedicine, disaster management e-banking and e-learning.

“In Ghana, the government is making initiatives to improve e-education,” said Kivilcim. “So for instance we know that they made an agreement with a manufacturer to provide 60,000 laptops to schools. Definitely this is one of the areas that will benefit as connectivity becomes more affordable for end users.” Tackling the price problem

A report by analyst firm Ovum last month found that high broadband prices in developing markets such as South Africa, Colombia, Nigeria, Malaysia, the Philippines, India and Pakistan are stifling local uptake, putting it out of reach for the majority of the population. It claimed that, in some countries, broadband pricing was double or triple the price of an equivalent service in a more developed market.

“Broadband continued to be beyond the reach of the vast majority of emerging market consumers,” the report stated. “This lack of affordability is a major inhibitor to unlocking the growth potential in these markets.”

However, Kivilcim believes that this could change with innovations like Alcatel’s lightRadio – a radio system in a tiny cube weighing 300g, which replaces all the electronics of a base station in a tiny low-power package. As well as reducing the energy consumption of the base stations, they also drastically reduce the cost.

“We believe that these kind of technologies will bring more economics to the business case of the operators, and that will be a direct reflection to the end user price,” said Kivilcim.