MTN Ghana, the leading mobile telecommunications operator in Ghana has announced the commercial rollout of its ultra powerful 3.5G technology at an impressive ceremony in Accra. The launch event themed Go Beyond, Experience our better life today took place at the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra and brought together members of the media, staff and Regulators. There were live demonstrations about the technology and the various services available to MTN customers. The occasion also marked the launch of an Internal Innovations Hub Project.
With the largest market share, widest coverage and competitive pricing, MTN’s ultra powerful 3.5G technology complements its existing 2G network to provide MTN subscribers with the widest coverage and consolidate its position as the leading telecommunication provider for Ghana whilst positively impacting every aspect of the lives of its customers. MTN will at this phase of the launch offer subscribers the flexibility to access a variety of services to customers in Accra and Kumasi as the rollout continues nationally. In addition to voice services, initial applications will include high-speed internet access at speeds significantly faster than dial-up, or GPRS connections, as well as video messaging and other multimedia services.
The MTN 3.5G launch marks an evolution in mobile technology for Ghana. Building on the existing superior coverage footprint, MTN 3.5G will initially achieve data speed transmission of up to 3.6megabits per second and will be expanded beyond 7.2 megabits per second. This major step forward by MTN will essentially put Ghana at the forefront of technology, in the league of top mobile operators globally.
Chief Executive Officer, MTN Ghana Brett Goshen said, “We are very pleased with the significant progress we have made in building an extensive 3.5G network and making it available to a large number of our valued customers.
Mr. Goshen added, “we are launching our 3.5G network with more than 7 times the number of 3.5G base stations than the next competitor. In addition, we are launching with the widest and best connection in Accra, Tema and Kumasi and will be expanding aggressively to all major cities in the months to come.”
With the commercial launch of the 3.5G services, MTN continues to show its commitment as the leading mobile operator in the Ghanaian market offering a wide range of services and technologies to suit different types of customers and situations including MTN Zone, Blackberry Services, Web Recharge, Community Phones and Seamless Roaming Services, calling USA, Canada and the UK at local rates to mention but a few of our myriad of innovative and compelling services.
Chief Marketing Officer George Kojo Andah added, “at MTN we are not just a company, we are a community that lives your passions and champions your aspirations. We will continue anticipating the current and emerging needs of all our targeted stakeholders and work with our people and the best technology to provide the highest service quality and speed. Our teams have already finished extensive testing of the 3.5G network, and we are extremely pleased with the results. We can also assure our customers that our tariffs will continue to be extremely competitive and our targeted customers will be able to enjoy our services with the best connection everywhere they go.”
Today’s launch follows the formal announcement of MTN’s 3.5G services earlier this year to introduce the technology and provide 3.5G services on a pilot basis.
The introduction of this latest service fulfills MTN’s pledge to bring world class telecommunications service to its subscribers and the general public. MTN will continue rolling out more innovative services into the market as promised.
About 3.5G
MTN 3.5G allows greater speed and efficiency in transmission of existing services including voice, text and data (that are available today) and more. For the corporate customers, having data download speeds equivalent to an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line at home means convenient business connectivity, efficiency, mobility & profitability.
For the young consumers, 3.5G brings endless possibilities to support a whole new suite of exciting multimedia services such as video streaming, games, music videos, sports, news and more.
Lastly, apart from voice calls, our customers can also make video calls with 3G enabled handsets, bringing them closer to their loved ones – a richer communication experience, the ‘?can see and speak’ at the same time!
The service is based on HSDPA, short for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access, which is a new protocol for mobile telephone data transmission. Commonly known as 3.5G (G stands for generation) technology, HSDPA is based on a packet switched suite of protocols (which offers several advantages over the existing circuit-switched techniques used for carrying mobile voice) and utilizes a number of techniques in parallel to increase the efficiency and reduce the latency. This allows higher call volumes and support for new and exciting multimedia data applications such as broadband access to the internet, emailing, mobile TV, video telephony and video conferencing from a mobile phone, PDA, or laptop.
This is good news! It means i get to enjoy mobile broadband speeds when I come to Ghana shortly.