Vodafone Ghana, in partnership with Facebook has launched a program dubbed ‘Express Wi-Fi’ to deliver connectivity to underserved areas across the country.
Express Wi-Fi is a program that has been designed to help retail entrepreneurs offer fast and affordable Wi-Fi services at hotspots spread across their communities.
It is effective in surrounding countries including India, Kenya, Indonesia, Nigeria and Tanzania.
The Telecommunication Giants sees this as an extension of a strategy to ignite a digital revolution in Ghana by leaving no one behind.
Despite a data penetration rate of 80.3% according to the National Communications Authority’s (NCA) a huge population of underprivileged Ghanaians are still unable to afford data due to the price.
The aim of this partnership deal between Vodafone and the world’s fastest growing company Facebook is to transform an industry that is already making a conscious effort to establish data dominance in the sub-region.
Vodafone has already deployed hotspots within Accra for the initiative, including Nima, James Town, Maamobi, Pig Farm and Abossey Okai.
The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Yolanda Cuba when speaking at the launch said;
“It is certainly a demonstration of our strategy in action. We remain committed to making sure every Ghanaian becomes a part of the data revolution, which currently represents the next stage of growth in this age of technological dominance”.
She also added that
“Affordability remains an issue for users in the underserved regions of the country, despite their high demand for data, and this initiative is the answer”.
When adding his voice, the Deputy Minister for Communications, Vincent Sowah Odotei, commended Vodafone Ghana for bringing such a brilliant initiative by Facebook’ in Ghana.
According to him, the move by Vodafone to bring the Express Wi-Fi is a way of complimenting government’s digitalization efforts to bring connectivity to unserved areas, thus communities excluded in the digital revolution.
“This is part of government’s digital agenda and it is something that the ministry is encouraging other private sector companies to do,”
Mr Sowah Odotei said.
He added that ‘Vodafone express WIFI by Facebook’ will also be an instrument for jobs creation.
The technology is available on Android and iOS phones, tablets and laptops. Customers need to connect to any available 200 hotspots within Accra without switching SIM cards.
Additionally, customers can also purchase Express Wi-Fi data packs from a branded and accredited Vodafone Express Wi-Fi Retailer in the targeted communities.
