President Kufuor has appointed a new Director General for the National Communications Authority following the retirement of Major Tandoh who had held the position till now.
Mr Bernard Aidoo Forson takes over from Maj. Tandoh with effect from Wednesday August 1st 2007.
Mr. Forson is a Telecommunications Management Executive with over 30 years experience and a graduate of the University of Ghana.
Before his appointment, Mr Forson was the Deputy Director-General of the NCA, a position he has held since 2002.
Meanwhile, President Kufuor has expressed his profound gratitude to Major Tandoh for his invaluable service to the country and wished him well.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
GT’s ``Broadband4u`` Internet service goes to Ashanti
GHANA TELECOM (GT) has made another breakthrough with the launch of its Broadband Internet service christened “Broadband4U” in Ashanti.
GT’s Internet service, which provides threw fastest internet connectivity, comes in various forms to enable a broad spectrum of its clientele to access it in homes, schools offices, businesses and churches, among others.
The facility was introduced in Ghana on a pilot basis and became operational in Accra three years ago.
Described as an “all-in-all product”, Broadband4U is currently available in Accra, Tema, Cape Coast, Kumasi, Obuasi and Konongo with plans to expand to other regional capitals and district centres.
Launching the service in Kumasi, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi noted that Information Technology (IT) was the key to rapid telecommunication and that ICT has the potential of powering the economic development of the country.
According to him, it is in view of this that Ghana signed an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to provide resources to improve ICT education in Ghana as its commitment to ICT Accelerated Development policies in Ghana.
Ghana, he disclosed, became the first country south of the Sub-Saharan to have full Internet connectivity.
He commended GT for the efforts at enhancing this facility saying “GT could not have introduced this facility at a better time than now”.
Mr. Joseph Wereko, General Manager in charge of Marketing, indicated that the Internet is a powerful tool, which opened the gate to global opportunities and empowerment in Ghana hence the vision of GT to roll out this service throughout the country.
He mentioned some of the benefits of the facility as global and competitive opportunities in electronic commerce in the field of business as well as providing a research tool for students and academia in education.
Mr. Wereko said the facility also provides entertainment and the highest security and therefore not an evil tool as it is being perceived by the public thus dispelling the rumour that the Internet was obscene saying there is a lot of fun and entertainment.
Ing. Robert Baffour-Awuah, the Regional Head of GT said at the launch that the introduction of the facility in an indication of GT’s committed effort at providing stakeholders with the best service. He said it did not only aid a client to have access but also provides the most affordable service with the widest coverage and fastest speed.
Major (rtd) Albert Don Chebe, Head of Corporate Communications and Care4U said the facility had the potential of bringing the whole worldwide library to the home.
According to him while European households had 50% access to broadband service Ghana had less than 1% access and expressed the hope that Broadband4U would increase access to the Internet in the Ghanaian home and setup.
Source/Credits: Ghanaian Chronicle
GT’s Internet service, which provides threw fastest internet connectivity, comes in various forms to enable a broad spectrum of its clientele to access it in homes, schools offices, businesses and churches, among others.
The facility was introduced in Ghana on a pilot basis and became operational in Accra three years ago.
Described as an “all-in-all product”, Broadband4U is currently available in Accra, Tema, Cape Coast, Kumasi, Obuasi and Konongo with plans to expand to other regional capitals and district centres.
Launching the service in Kumasi, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Osei Assibey Antwi noted that Information Technology (IT) was the key to rapid telecommunication and that ICT has the potential of powering the economic development of the country.
According to him, it is in view of this that Ghana signed an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to provide resources to improve ICT education in Ghana as its commitment to ICT Accelerated Development policies in Ghana.
Ghana, he disclosed, became the first country south of the Sub-Saharan to have full Internet connectivity.
He commended GT for the efforts at enhancing this facility saying “GT could not have introduced this facility at a better time than now”.
Mr. Joseph Wereko, General Manager in charge of Marketing, indicated that the Internet is a powerful tool, which opened the gate to global opportunities and empowerment in Ghana hence the vision of GT to roll out this service throughout the country.
He mentioned some of the benefits of the facility as global and competitive opportunities in electronic commerce in the field of business as well as providing a research tool for students and academia in education.
Mr. Wereko said the facility also provides entertainment and the highest security and therefore not an evil tool as it is being perceived by the public thus dispelling the rumour that the Internet was obscene saying there is a lot of fun and entertainment.
Ing. Robert Baffour-Awuah, the Regional Head of GT said at the launch that the introduction of the facility in an indication of GT’s committed effort at providing stakeholders with the best service. He said it did not only aid a client to have access but also provides the most affordable service with the widest coverage and fastest speed.
Major (rtd) Albert Don Chebe, Head of Corporate Communications and Care4U said the facility had the potential of bringing the whole worldwide library to the home.
According to him while European households had 50% access to broadband service Ghana had less than 1% access and expressed the hope that Broadband4U would increase access to the Internet in the Ghanaian home and setup.
Source/Credits: Ghanaian Chronicle
Intel and $100 laptop join forces
The agreement marks a huge turnaround for both the not-for-profit One Laptop per Child (OLPC) foundation and Intel.
In May this year, Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of OLPC, said the silicon giant "should be ashamed of itself" for efforts to undermine his initiative.
He accused Intel of selling its own cut-price laptop - the Classmate PC - below cost to drive him out of markets in the developing world.
"What happened in the past has happened," Will Swope of Intel told the BBC News website. "But going forward, this allows the two organisations to go do a better job and have a better impact for what we are both very eager to do, which is help kids around the world."
Nicholas Negroponte, founder of One Laptop per Child, said: "Intel joins the OLPC board as a world leader in technology, helping reach the world's children. Collaboration with Intel means that the maximum number of laptops will reach children."
Intel inside
The new agreement means that Intel will sit alongside the 11 companies, including Google and Red Hat, which are partners in the OLPC scheme.
It will also join rival chip-maker AMD, which supplies the processor at the heart of the $100 laptop.
"Intel's apparent change of heart is welcome, and we're sure they can make a positive contribution to this very worthy project for the benefit of children all over the world," read a statement from AMD.
Initially there are no plans to switch the processor to one designed by Intel. However, the servers used to back-up the XO laptops, as they are known, will have Intel technology at their core.
Decisions about the hardware inside the XO laptop would be made by OLPC, said Mr Swope.
"OLPC will decide about which products they choose to offer or not offer," he said.
OLPC, however, indicated that it would consider using Intel chips in its machines in the future.
Walter Bender, head of software development at OLPC, told the BBC News website that he believed OLPC would eventually offer different computers with different hardware.
"I think we will end up with a family of products that run across a wide variety of needs," he said. "Intel will be part of that mix."
Price test
In addition, the partnership will have a practical pay off for software developers.
"Any software you build is going to run at least on our two platforms," said Mr Swope.
An application developed for the XO laptop should work on the Classmate and vice versa.
"That's the exciting thing for me," said Mr Bender.
Currently both laptops are being tested in schools around the world. In parallel, OLPC is finalising orders for the first batch of computers.
Participating countries are able to purchase the XO in lots of 250,000. They will initially cost $176 (£90) but the eventual aim is to sell the machine to governments of developing countries for $100 (£50).
Intel says it already has orders for "thousands" of Classmates, which currently cost over $200 (£100).
Like the OLPC machine, Intel expects the price to eventually fall.
New initiative to provide computers for all in Ghana
A new enterprise between the Ghana government and multinational computer microchip maker Intel, is expected to bring affordable computer ownership within reach of thousands of Ghana households and small business owners over the next three years.
A range of inexpensive, brand new computers, supplied with access to the internet, will go a long way towards improving the level of computer literacy amongst the nation's workforce and will help students with home study as well as improving their computing skills in readiness for employment. And to make it easy for salaried workers to buy the package, an installment payment plan will be available through their employer or trade association.
A new partnership between computer re-sellers, internet service providers and banks was inaugurated at a workshop for potential stakeholders and beneficiaries of the project held in Accra. At the workshop, over 150 representatives of employers' and professional associations, ministries, departments and agencies of government, businesses, church groups, educationalists and the media were introduced to the partnership.
According to Intel representative, Sam Mensah, Ghana is one of a number of developing countries that the company is working with. "We believe this joint venture between us, the government and the other partners is a win-win situation all round with the ultimate benefit going to the computer end user."
Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Deputy Minister of Communications pointed out that Ghana's growth strategy relied heavily on a competent workforce with well developed IT skills. For this to be achieved, it was vital to provide affordable access to internet ready computers both in the home and at work.
Initial target for the project will be substantial employers and umbrella organizations having access to large workforces and with the ability to deduct repayments from their salaried workers or members. Explains Kwami Ahiabenu,II of programme management office "It is important that we achieve economies of scale early in the project lifecycle so that we can move large volumes of internet ready computers into the marketplace quickly. This way, the benefit of home computer ownership at affordable prices will be recognized and passed on by word-of-mouth to friends and co-workers."
The computers, which are sold under the iADVANCE brand, meet internationally recognized specifications similar to proprietary products which sell on the local marketplace at over twice the retail price. This is achieved by assembling the computers in Ghana from only Intel approved products as well as through bulk buying of their component parts.
The iADVANCE programme, with the theme computer4all, commences immediately and enquiries from employers, associations and businesses wishing to offer pre-financed internet ready computers to staff or members, is welcomed.
welcome to computer4all ghana blog
welcome to computer4all ghana blog
by Ghana Government Assisted PC Programme (iadvance)
enjoy your visit
by Ghana Government Assisted PC Programme (iadvance)
enjoy your visit
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