Glo Wins GSM Licence In Ghana

By Okoh Aihe & Miebi Senge

17th June 2008

Barely a week after Globacom boss, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr, launched mobile service in Benin Republic and told the gathering that he was building an African company that would compete globally, Ghana seems to have taken the words out of his mouth by offering him the only mobile licence left after a stiff competitive bidding.

A letter from that country’s regulatory authority, the National Communications Authority (NCA) dated June 12, 2008, said its Board of Directors had unanimously declared Glo Mobile winner of the international bid for the award of a Mobile Cellular Licence in the country.

Vanguard gathered that after a keenly contested open technical bid, the NCA adjudged Glo Mobile as the preferred bidder because of the superiority of its technical presentation, pedigree and extensive roll-out plan.

Glo Mobile also emerged tops in the commercial bid, leading to its eventual announcement as the winner of the GSM licence.

The NCA congratulated Globacom on the feat and charged the network to transform Ghana’s information and communication technology profile.

This will come as no surprise to those watching the growth of the young operator and the way it is channelling its expertise and wealth.

Speaking at the launch of service in Benin penultimate Thursday, Adenuga traced the development of his company in Nigeria where it has capacity for 30 million lines, that sets it apart as the fastest growing operator on the continent, and its debut in Benin where it has built capacity for 5 million subscribers amidst a population of 6.8 million.

But the killer punch, however, is the submarine cable that Globacom is laying to Europe and the Americas. Adenuga promised to drop nodes in each country as the cable goes along.

According to Adenuga, “our vision is to build the biggest network in Africa. Many thought it was mere commercial boast. Some feel because we are African, we cannot achieve it because all the successful networks have their origin outside the continent.”

With about 18 million lines in Nigeria, sceptics, according to Adenuga, are beginning to have a rethink.
These are the credentials that will continue to market Globacom in Africa and make it very attractive to African governments ever in need of modern communications for their population.

The Glo Mobile management, Vanguard was told, expressed gratitude to the Ghanaian regulator and promised to rollout aggressively very shortly.

Source: Vanguard

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