Etisalat Nigeria - 0809...........

With over 40 million lines in the Nigerian telecoms market, new kid on the mobile bloc, Etisalat weekend, declared it would rely on world class quality of service to hit the number one spot in the country’s mobile industry in three years.

BeloAs it is the network is already live as a search on your mobile phone can reveal but officials of the company insisted they were not going to sell one line until they were sure the network quality was top range and enough to make them the preferred mobile company in one of the world’s fastest growing territories.

Chairman of the company, Mr. Hakeem Belo-Osagie who always wanted to play in the mobile sector, expressed the joy of being able to enter the sector which has become a major attraction to the world, saying that the market earlier underestimated has become the biggest in the whole of Africa, adding there was room for his company to make a statement with a robust network.

WITH its opening webpage — ‘Some things in life we come to rely on...’— Etisalat, the Middle East carrier, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation of United Arab Emirates prides itself as the region’s No.1 telecom service provider in that part of the world, some kind of zest it hopes to bring into the Nigerian market.

Etisalat is entering the Nigerian market through a licence obtained in 2007 by the Mubadala Trading & Development Company of UAE. It operates under the corporate name of Emerging Markets Telecommunications Service.

“EMTS is a Nigerian company duly incorporated under the laws of Nigeria in partnership with Mubadala and Etisalat of UAE. Mubadala acquired the Unified Access Licence in 2007. It includes a mobile licence and spectrum in the GSM 1800 and 900 MHz bands for $400 million,” said Belo-Osagie.

Etisalat has already acquired 40 per cent stake in EMTS to operate its brand as Nigeria’s 5th mobile provider.
Stating the company’s vision, Belo-Osagie said: “Indeed, backed by Etisalat’s legendary track record of quality and performance, we are committed to building Etisalat Nigeria into a world class service provider, known for its standards of quality, operational performance and efficiency and admired for its record of consistently creating value for customers.”

The chairman also cleared his reason for pulling out of Nigeria’s first public mobile bid in 2001 stating that at $285 million, it was adjudged too exorbitant and unprofitable. He noted that with hindsight, the Nigerian market was wrongly read by international financial analysts because contrary to their projection of a maximum of 10 million subscribers, the country already boasts of 50 million with a forecast of 90 million in the next three years.

Mr. Saoud al-Shamsi, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria amplified the chairman’s statement, noting that the company would only roll out when it was sure the services would meet its own set standards. This was in apparent reference to recent cry by Nigerians on poor quality of service (QoS) being offered by all four operators in the country. The Nigerian Communications Commission, the industry’s regulator recently fined two of the providers for their poor QoS.

“We will only launch commercial service here (Nigeria) when we are sure that the QoS will not drop below our expectation. We will launch, but we want to get it right from the first day,” said al-Shamsi.

In boosting Etisalat’s track record in its home country, al-been the telecom service provider in the UAE since 1976 and is the number one mobile operator. It has played a key role in driving and supporting the nation’s prosperity. In the regions where we operate, the Etisalat network has always been, and will continue to provide a distinctly strong backbone for high quality telecom services. We have created a world-class infrastructure that enables companies compete on the global stage, and deepen relationships among people.”

Etisalat has presence in 15 countries, (10 of them in Africa) spanning Middle East, Africa and Asia. “Our success in countries like Afghanistan, Sudan and the Central African Republic has demonstrated our capacity to thrive in difficult and challenging terrains. Our brand is distinguished for its innovativeness and reliability”, al-Shamsi stated.

Al-Shamsi stated that Etisalat has “pioneered technology in different markets, leading our customers and partners into the future. Recent examples include a 3.75G Network which Etisalat rolled out in Egypt (the most advanced in that market). We are majority shareholders in Thuruya, a leading provider of satellite phones. In the UAE, Etisalat offers fixed line services over its Next Generation Network and provides mobile users with a range of services and applications including GPRS, 3G, Blackberry and MobileCam.”

To underline its Middle East influence, the company is ranked 140th by the London based Financial Times Top 500 global Corporations in terms of market capitalisation. The Middle East magazine also ranks it as the 6th largest company in the region in terms of capitalisation and revenues. The Corporation is the largest contributor outside the oil sector to development programmes of the UAE Federal Government, and is an award winning socially responsible corporation. Etisalat has also won accolades from across the region for its nationalisation programme.

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