Warid to invest US$ 25 million towards network expansion (Pakistan)
Mobile telecommunication firm Warid Telecom is planning to invest an additional US$ 25 million this year towards network expansion and improvement, as said by Sriram Yarlagadda, the Warid chief executive officer and the director for telecom business.
Yarlagadda said that they would concentrate on their core business of brand building, boosting customer base, new area coverage and network expansion. He added that they have limited capabilities to run the call centres. This is not a core role for telecoms world over. Further, they are not best placed to run the concept.
He also said that they needed to bring experts in this field like Spanco to help enhance the kind of service they want to offer their customers. Yarlagadda added that Spanco will expand the call centre base, which will help provide superior quality customer care service to boost our customer satisfaction. Further, he said that the company will concentrate on growing market share and revenues.
Alan Harper, the Eaton Towers chief executive, said thatEaton Towers’ expertise in tower management and commitment to top quality service will allow Ugandan operators to focus on providing innovative mobile services and expanding its subscriber base. At the same time, their ownership and management of the telecoms network infrastructure will ensure that the local networks will continually be enhanced and expanded, whilst maintaining low operating costs for the mobile operators. He added that these partnerships, with local operators, bring significant benefits to all parties.
Kenyan operators outsource services to cut employee cost
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The customer service and Network management operations of the telecom operators in Kenya are being outsourced in order to remain competitive in the long run. Following the footsteps of Telkom Kenya and Zain, Essar Telecom Kenya, operating under the Yu brand, announced an outsourcing agreement with Aegis.
In an effort to keep its employee costs low, the customer care services and Network management of Zain Kenya has been outsourced to Nokia Siemens while Telkom Kenya has outsourced its customer care operations to local BPOs Horizon and Kencall.
According to analysts, the initial focus for the firms was to grow their top lines, but now the executives are looking both at the top line and costs while the falling ARPU will put downward pressure on earnings growth. Incidentally, due to increased competition, ARPUs (average revenue per user) have declined significantly in recent years and it has resulted in reduction in mobile tariffs across the board.
Verizon, the top performer: survey
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a survey conducted by a rating company, Verizon Wireless topped the list of the overall winner on the scale of performance including reliability, coverage, products, value and customer service. AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile were the other contenders in the survey.
On a 30 point scale, Verizon Wireless scored 22; T-Mobile scored 19, AT&T 18 and Sprint also 18. Verizon scored maximum on reliability factor (22) and coverage factor (26). The other main carriers scored between 20 and 17. Even in customer care service, Verizon emerged the winner with 19 points while AT&T scored 16 and Sprint got 15.
AT&T strong suit was products category with 24 points followed by Verizon with 19 points, T-Mobile also with 19 points and Sprint with 18 points. Value category witnessed T- Mobile as the winner with 20 points.
Arab mobile provider, Nokia launches Sudan operations
Oct 5, 2006 (DUBAI) — i2, the largest and most diverse mobile provider in Africa and the Middle East announced today in a press briefing the launch of its operations in Sudan.
i2 introduces its retail concept and after sales services for the first time in the country.
i2 is the first authorized Nokia distributor and service center in the country as well as being the first to offer mobile subscribers original Nokia devices with matching accessories and a one-year warranty. In Sudan, i2 will be available through its showroom, distribution network and service center.
i2′s operation in Sudan will be managed by Mohamed Osman El Tayyeb, Chairman, and Hussein Raouf Atwi, General Manager.
i2 plans to expand its operation throughout Sudan within the year to include Bahri, Omdurman and Kalaka. i2 has opened a branch in the state of Adbara and plans to expand to Madani and Port Sudan.
Nokia has long recognized Africa as an important market for the company’s business. Since early 1990, Nokia has provided mobile phones, enhancement, telecoms networks and related infrastructure and services to operators and customers throughout Africa.
‘Nokia’s approach is to develop and support all local distributors and service partners in all countries. Nokia has been working closely with our regional distributor, i2 across most countries in the Middle East and Africa for many years now.
i2 will be able to offer Nokia’s customers authentic Nokia handsets and official Nokia Customer Care Services to ensure that customers in Sudan receive the best possible Nokia experience.” Said Jarmo Santala, General Manager for Nokia Customer and Market Operations North West Africa.
The cost effectiveness of GSM-based services in comparison to fixed-lines has encouraged the fast growth of mobile services in Africa. Nevertheless, mobile penetration levels in Africa remain low.
‘i2 has a big role to play in the development of the mobile market in Africa. We want to make sure that it’s growing market follows international standards of product quality and service’ stated Abdul Hameed Al Sunaid, President and CEO, i2.
Founded in 1993 in Saudi Arabia as Itsalat International, i2 is the region’s largest and most diverse mobile phone provider in the region. i2 operates in: Bahrain, Chad, Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, KSA, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, Reunion, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and UK.
Source- http://www.sudantribune.com
