Posted by By SOLA FANAWOPO, just back from Cairo, Egypt on
In far away Cairo, the famed cradle of civilization, Etisalat Nigeria Limited last week gave indications of how it will rescue Nigeria mobile subscribers from poor quality of services that is being served them daily in the name of mobile telecommunications.
•How Etisalat will dazzle Nigeria's mobile subscribers
In far away Cairo, the famed cradle of civilization, Etisalat Nigeria Limited last week gave indications of how it will rescue Nigeria mobile subscribers from poor quality of services that is being served them daily in the name of mobile telecommunications.
Speaking with a group of Nigerian journalists at the company's office at Cairo Smart Village, Etisalat Egypt Chief Technical Officer, Haiphan Abdul-Rasaq, said quality of services and reliability of the networks was the hallmark of the Etisalat Group.
He said he expected the sister operation in Nigeria to leverage on phenomenal success recorded by Etisalat Egypt. Etisalat Egypt that recently celebrated its first year of operation in the country has signed on over five million subscribers, making it the fastest growing network in the region.
Mr. Akande Yinka, the company's head of brand and communications, who led the Nigeria delegation, said they were in Cairo to learn one or two things about how things are done in the group and also want the Nigeria media to experience the impact of Etisalat famed quality of services.
Abdul-Rasaq said Etisalat Egypt had similar challenges with the Nigeria's operation when it was awarded the third GSM licence in the country last year. 'We had to contend with two major incumbents who already have between them more than 20 million subscribers. Mobinii, the first operator is known for its huge coverage and huge subscriber base appeal, while Vodafone is also known for targeting the upwardly mobile people. To gain a foothold in the market we had to leverage on the Etisalt's group philosophy of value for money and technology savvy products and services.
He also gave a hint why Etisalat Nigeria has not unveiled its services yet. According to him, the Egypt operation make sure it covered about 60 per cent of the whole country before it launched its operations. 'Now, just after 12 months, we have covered more than 90 per cent of the Egyptian land mass and population."
On the quality of its services, the chief technical officer said the company built both the 2G and 3G network simultaneously in Egypt. According to him, when the Egyptian telecommunications regulatory agency conducted a detail benchmark of the three network operations recently, Etisalat came first in almost all the categories. 'This is a great achievement for us particularly when you are competing with operators who have been in the market for years."
While addressing the journalists, Saoud Al Shamsi, Etisalat Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria, said the company would not compromise on the reputation the group had built which spans the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
He said the company had realised that the initial one billion dollars it planned to inject into the Nigeria's market would not be adequate, therefore, it would inject more fund .
Al-Shamsi, who took the chief executive of the Nigerian Communications, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, around its two stories stand at the just concluded International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Conference in Egypt said, the company had applied for a 3G licence to enable Etisalat provide the latest technology for its would be subscribers in the country.
In his remarks, Ndukwe said he was very impressed with the quality of products and services showcased by the company at the exhibition. 'But I will reserve my comment until they bring the services into Nigeria. Etisalat must replicate these services in Nigeria."
Meanwhile, Hakeem Bello-Osagie, chairman of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, or EMTS, owners of the licence operated by Etisalat, said that Etisalat is expected to use a marketing strategy of reduced tariffs to take market share from established operators in Nigeria.
EMTS, a Nigerian firm, entered into partnership with Mubadala Development Co. of the United Arab Emirates following Mubadala's acquisition of a Unified Access License that includes a mobile phone licence from the Nigerian government in January 2007 for $400 million. Etisalat has acquired a 40 per cent stake in EMTS and operates the licence in Nigeria.