Altobridge and K-NET Rollout Mobile Connectivity to Rural Communities in Ghana

KERRY TECHNOLOGY PARK, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Altobridge Limited (www.altobridge.com), leaders in technology that cuts the cost of delivering mobile connectivity, has partnered with one of Ghana’s leading network solutions providers to bring first-time mobile voice and mobile broadband connectivity to rural communities in Ghana.

“To make this business model work, K-NET needed an ultra-low operating cost, reliable solution that can be rapidly deployed and which is easy to install, maintain and operate. This solution from K-NET and Altobridge provided precisely that.”

The initial rollout phase of the satellite-backhauled, solar powered solution, on the Tigo Ghana mobile network, has now been completed. Subscriber uptake and usage levels in these hitherto unconnected, rural village communities, have surpassed all parties’ expectations.

The project has been funded by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), an implementing agency of the Ministry of Communications set up by the Government of Ghana to facilitate the provision of access to ICT, Internet connectivity and communications infrastructure to under-served and un-served areas of Ghana.

“In a short space of time, we have demonstrated that a local entrepreneurial entity, with strong support from Government, can focus on and profitably deliver communications to remote communities and enterprises. This approach not only accelerates mobile voice and mobile broadband penetration, but also offers incremental revenue to the mobile network providers,” said Mike Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, Altobridge.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Richard Hlomador, Founder & CEO, K-NET said, “To make this business model work, K-NET needed an ultra-low operating cost, reliable solution that can be rapidly deployed and which is easy to install, maintain and operate. This solution from K-NET and Altobridge provided precisely that.”

About Altobridge

Altobridge wireless network solutions reduce network operating costs in the delivery of mobile voice and mobile broadband services. Central to this lie a series of patented and patent-pending technologies namely; Altobridge Data-at-the-Edge™ (broadband data optimization in wireless networks), Local Connectivity™ (local voice switching) and Split Architecture™ (transmission and power optimization), all of which, individually and combined, drive down communications delivery costs for mobile network operators by reducing backhaul and power consumption costs.

Altobridge is headquartered in Ireland and has further bases in USA, China and Malaysia, covering sales, R&D, customer support and manufacturing.

Altobridge solutions are deployed and operational in over 30 countries worldwide.

Altobridge is a privately held company. Shareholders include its employees, Intel Capital, IFC and Enterprise Ireland.

About K-NET

KNET is an international telecom provider headquartered in Accra, Ghana. KNET was founded in 1996 and is 100% Ghanaian owned.

KNET operates a large MPLS core backbone network with several regional POPs throughout Ghana, interconnected using a combination of diverse fibre and high-capacity SDH microwave links. KNETs main Network Operation Centre (NOC) and Teleport is located at McCarthy Hill in Accra, which has diverse connections to multiple international POPs. KNET provides last-mile connectivity to customer locations based on one of several access technologies, including fibre, DSL, point-to-point microwave, WiMAX and VSAT. The state-of-the-art McCarthy Hill Teleport hosts two VSAT platforms, with capacity on the SES Astra 2B satellite, providing ubiquitous coverage over all West and Central Africa.

KNET specialises in the provision of high-reliability B2B network services for government, large corporate and small/medium enterprise clients.

KNET also provides Ghana’s main TV uplink facility from its McCarthy Hill teleport, providing services for TV3, MultiTV, GBC-TV, TV Africa and others.

KNET has also developed a mobile telephony infrastructure for rural areas, which is currently deployed at 10 sites in Ghana under a contract with GIFEC.

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