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Surfline Births Ghana's First 4G Network Service [Ventures Africa](Ventures Africa Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) VENTURES AFRICA- Ghanaian ICT firm, Surfline Communications has launched the country’s first 4G data network to, granting it access to the growing group of 4G-utilizing countries. A group that includes Africa’s largest and most developed economies; Nigeria and South Africa. Surfline Chief Executive Officer, Dr Yaw Akoto said the internet service is ten times faster than the current data packages, citing an example that one can even download a two hour movie while taking a shower. “If for nothing at all, by arithmetic interpretation, the 4G should be better and faster than the 2G and 3G networks available,” Ghana Communication Minister, Edward Omane Boamah added. Surfline partnered several IT multinationals including French technology company Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft and Tech Mahindra to make Ghana the sixth sub-Saharan African nation to launch the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) service. Speaking on the latest achievement, Surfline founder and Chairman, John Taylor said his company "want(s) to fill the void by providing high speed connectivity to facilitate e-education, e-commerce and facilitate long distance activities especially by people living outside the cities.” Over a $100 million had been sunk into launching the first phase of the of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, which has 300 cell sites.It is currently made available in Accra and Tema. Surfline plans to launch the service nationwide in the next two years. Given that only 20 percent of the country’s populace is hooked to the internet, the wholly-owned firm will be hoping to woo more locals into the e-space by offering a much faster, less time consuming service. To ease access and reach a wider people spread, Surfline has opened flagship stores in strategic areas across the country for the purchase of the latest 4G LTE-enabled devices, vouchers and SIM cards. (c) 2014 Ventures Africa. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |