Shared infrastructure key to Internet growth -- Google head

Telecom and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been asked to consider sharing network infrastructure in order to cut the cost of delivering Internet access to poorly-connected parts of the country.

The Country Lead of Google Ghana, Estelle Akofio-Sowah, explained in an interview with the B&FT that the model of outsourcing telecom tower infrastructure to independent tower companies can be adopted by Internet service providers to lower the cost of Internet in the country.

“We know as well in Ghana that access is still an issue, although about five fibre cables are now on the coast. How to get it (the bandwidth) to homes and offices is still a challenge; and cost is a factor.

“So there is a need for shared infrastructure, just as mobile network operators have done by sharing tower infrastructure without necessarily owning them,” she said.

Currently, there are four international fibre-optic undersea cables that have landed on the shores of the country. However, getting the bandwidth inland has been a challenge, with many of the firms constructing their own communication network backbone infrastructure to meet the bandwidth needs of customers.

Mrs. Akofio-Sowah, whose firm recently launched ProjectLink -- a fibre-optic infrastructure network in Uganda that delivers high-speed broadband to locations that don't have the infrastructure to deliver stable Internet connections -- said the high cost of getting bandwidth from the shores to inland destinations is impeding efforts to access affordable Internet services.

She said sharing network infrastructure will allow data service providers to reach more customers, which will help to lower cost.

“It reduces their cost and allows the operators to focus on the end-service, which is critical. We need the operators and ISPs to be thinking about the solutions that they are actually putting in our hands, not so much about how they are getting it to us.

“That is going to drive data usage; and as more people use data, we are going to see cost (of Internet access) go down.

“Cost of mobile telephony services has gone down because the penetration rate has crossed over 100 percent, which has created a big enough market to allow the operators to reduce the cost...So shared infrastructure is one way to bring down the cost.”

The National Communications Authority has licenced Nigerian-based Main One Cable, Glo 1, West-Africa Cable Systems (WACS) and Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) fibre-optic cables to bring competition to the international bandwidth market, which has over the years been controlled by Vodafone's SAT3.

The entry of the international bandwidth providers was hailed as a game-changer to bring competition to the market and reduce Internet-access cost.

While competition in the wholesale broadband market has helped to push down the price of e1 bandwidth -- the basic data rate of Internet communication -- from US$4,500 to less than US$1,000, this has not reflected in the retail price for end-users.

According to some ISPs, the retail price of Internet access has not gone down in comparison to the percentage decline in the wholesale price as they incur additional excessive costs to provide last-mile infrastructure via fibre or wireless to achieve access.

They agree that a lot has to be done to increase Internet user-numbers further to reach a critical mass for real price drops to be felt at the end-user level.

By Evans Boah-Mensah | B&FT Online | Ghana

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