Ecoband to expand footprints to regional capitals

Local connectivity solutions provider, Ecoband Ltd, is set to expand its operations to other parts of the country after 15 years of offering consistent Internet and connectivity solutions to corporate bodies.

Ecoband Ltd was started by a Ghanaian and a German partnership about 15 years ago and is behind the delivery of high-speed internet and terrestrial connectivity solutions for local and wide area networks for several banks in the country as well as blue chip corporate bodies, including Societe Generale and Fidelity banks.

The Director of Sales and Marketing of the company, Mr Koblah Gbeho, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that further expanding its presence to other regional capitals such as Tamale and other sprawling cities would be pursued for the medium term.

Already, Ecoband Ltd has presence in Accra/Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi where it remains the company of choice when it comes to connectivity solutions.

The company set out originally providing V-Sat solutions, but rapid improvements and changes in technology have enabled it to deploy fibre optic and wireless terrestrial local loop services on its own network in order to meet the connectivity needs of its clients.

“We still provide satellite connectivity more than we’ve ever done. However, we are seeing that the bulk of our business interest tends to lie in the fibre option and radio technology,” Mr Gbeho said in an interview at the company’s Open House event, where it invited stakeholders for interaction as part of the 15th anniversary celebrations.

The special guests of honour were a Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Ato Sarpong, and the Country Manager of Google, Ms Estelle Akofio Sowah. The event was graced with representatives of the local banking network and their international partners such as Sonema, Immarsat, Sat Adsl and Gillat Satcom. 

Government as facilitator 

Mr Gbeho commended the Ghanaian government for creating the enabling environment to promote competition and technology, saying several international partners in the industry were turning to Ghana as a place to conduct businesses in an open, transparent and profitable manner by partnering with local companies.

“I think the government has done a terrific job till now. Nobody is perfect but government has taken recognisable steps where our industry is concerned. The NCA has been very prolific in recent times, with proactive measures and engaging us operators more energetically and proactively.”

Gone are the days when V-Sat was the only option and a very costly option at that. The landing of submarine cables has brought the price of bandwidth and connectivity solutions down, but analysts believe it has not reached its lowest point yet.

Even though that competition has increased the number of choices a customer has, the marketing director of Ecoband Ltd said the company focused on its core business and delivered to the best of its ability, while at the same time translating technology to the customer’s own specific solution by working closely with them to identify needs in order to find the best ways of addressing them.

Mr Gbeho said the next 15-years of the company’s future would be marked by a greater collaboration with its internationals partners to better address the connectivity needs of the Ghanaian market.