PRESIDENT JAMMEH LAUNCHES GAMTEL CDMA
AND WEB PORTAL SERVICES

Monday, 25th July 2005

As part of celebrations marking the 11th years of the July 22nd Revolution, His Excellency the President Dr Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh launched the CDMA (Fixed Wireless Technology) and the WEB – PORTAL projects at the Gamtel Multimedia Institute.

The importance of telecommunications in this modern era cannot be overstated. The convergence of technologies, notably, Audio, Video and Data on the same platform offers tremendous opportunity. Governments are increasingly recognising this convergence of technologies and its development potentials.

President Jammeh in launching the new projects said Gamtel over the years has grown tremendously thus putting The Gambia on the list of countries with a modern telecoms system. He said his Government will fully support Gamtel in its efforts to provide Gambians with more modern telecoms systems. President's statement

In her speech the overseeing SOS for Communication, Information and Technology Nenneh Macdouall-Gaye said the creation of a separate Department of State in 2002 was a clear testimony of Government’s commitment to telecommunication and ICT development. She went on to say most Gambians either subscribe to or access foreign content providers for information or email services. Apart from the economic implications, this leads to over-stretching our national internet backbone thus the frequent occurrences of slow internet access. The creation of “Yegoo” however, is hoped to greatly reduce congestion, and improve access speed as more people hook on to “Yegoo”. She said “Yegoo” is our equivalent of hotmail or other international providers, and is more than a website as it has more functionalities and a huge database of our diverse national activities.

The Department of Communication, Information &Technology she assured her audience will continue to steer the process to transform The Gambia into a modern information society.
As we become more and more of an information society, she said, our information needs grow tremendously. She went on to say that the Fixed Wireless Technology (CDMA) or “Jamano” will go a long way in bridging the digital divide between The Gambia and developed countries and between our rural and urban areas, yet avoid the high costs inherent in developing fixed line infrastructure. This CDMA technology has the features of both fixed and mobile telephony and can easily be carried to any part of the country without changing numbers. The launching of the new facility will deploy 90,000 Fixed Wireless lines and will increase Gamtel customer base from 45,000 to 135,000. This, she said is an impressive ratio and will contribute in achieving our universal access obligation.

On the Multipurpose Training Centre, SOS Macdoll Gaye said initially it was meant to train Telecommunications Technicians but over the years she went on, it became apparent that Computer Literacy must be included in its curriculum. Presently it has widened its Training and Consultancy to Telecoms Engineering, Computer Studies, Management and Customer Relations Studies.

In the area of ICT development, DOSCIT in collaboration with Gamtel and UNDP have facilitated the granting of approval by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for GTMI to operate as an ITU/EC ICT regional training centre. A fully networked computer Lab jointly funded by the European Commission and Gamtel will be commissioned shortly. This in addition will also give opportunity to offer (e-learning) leading to E-Degrees in areas such as Law, Management and Business Studies. She concluded by saying the building of a Telecoms infrastructure is the bedrock of achieving ICT goals as information is the raw materials with which wealth is created in the twenty-first century.

Other speakers included the MD Mr Omar Ndow, Chairman Board of Directors Gamtel and Mr Ebrima Baldeh, Director, Gamtel Multimedia Services. The ceremony was punctuated by drumming and dancing.