MTN, Glo, Etisalat and Airtel fined $10.8 million for poor network services (Nigeria)
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has fined telecom operators MTN, Etisalat, Airtel and Globacom, a total amount of $10.8 million, over poor quality of telecom services, according to a report by This Day.
As per the report, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had informed the Chief Executive Officers of the telecom operators via letters. The penalties imposed on the operators’ amount to $2.29 million for MTN and Etisalat, $1.71 million for Airtel and $1.14 million for Globacom.
The letter sent by the Commission said that all the operators are to pay the penalties on or before May 21, 2012 or be liable to payment of additional $15,900 per day for as long as the contravention persists. The penalties were imposed as the operators failed to meet with the minimum standard of quality of service including the key performance indicators (KPIs).
According to NCC, it monitored the performance of the operators on the different parameters, in line with the provisions of the regulation, and discovered that operators were in contravention of the provisions.
The report reveals that monitoring of the quality of service from the different operators in the month of March 2012, NCC statistics in some crucial parameters showed that Call Set-up Success Rate (CSSR) for all operators was 97.07 percent and the Commission’s target was greater than or equal to 98 percent.
Also during the period, Call Completion Rate (CCR) for all operators was 95.78 percent and the commission’s target was greater than or equal 96 percent. Drop Call Rate (DCR) for all operators was 1.33 percent and the commission’s target was less than or equal to 2 percent. The statistics showed that the four operators did not measure up to NCC’s target in certain parameters.
MTN to invest US$ 1 billion for network upgrade in Nigeria (Africa)
Africa based MTN Group will invest over USD 1 billion in 2012 in an attempt to improve its network service in Nigeria following the directives by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to improve its service quality.
According to reports, the operator has said that the increase in the number of subscribers has necessitated the need for an efficient service delivery. Further, sources claim that the investment will help ease out the traffic on the network thereby improving the network quality.
As per sources, the Nigerian Communications Commission had issued a warning to telecom operators MTN, Globacom and Bharti Airtel in 2011 for their poor services, asking them to improve their quality before taking on additional subscribers.
Mobile operators shift focus towards rural markets (Nigeria)
With the increase in saturation of mobile services in urban markets across the world, mobile operators have shifted their focus to towards the relatively untapped rural markets for better business opportunities and a chance at increasing revenues.
According to reports, industry analysts predict Nigeria the largest mobile market in the continent, to be home to over 90 million subscribers by this year end. Further, improvements in broadband connectivity along with the emergence of new generation smartphones are expected to drive mobile data growth in the economy.
In most rural economies, the lack of adequate infrastructure has been a grave cause of concern for mobile operators as it reduces their profits and drives up costs for customers. Currently, industry reports suggest that a fully functioning network grid could help operators cut their mobile tariffs by 50 percent, which is higher than those being offered in developed countries.
Changes have been observed in the investment environment as well. With operators offering discounted services to low income users in order to expand their reach, the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) has witnessed a decline. Bharti Airtel, which had acquired Africa’s Zain, slashed its prices by significant amounts in a bid to increase its market share, which increased the pressure across the industry. Further, sources reveal that Etisalat (Saudi Arabia) and Globacom have also been increasingly gaining customers, giving strong competition to market leader MTN.
The next big thing in the economy is being considered to be mobile banking services. With a large portion of the population being unbanked but gaining access to mobile devices, more and more consumers are using their phone to transfer money and pay for goods, in a more convenient and secure manner.
Globacom introduces Glo Blackberry Points programme (Nigeria)
Globacom has introduced the Glo Blackberry Points programme to reward subscribers with gifts ranging from free airtime to Glo 3G modems, iPods, Blackberry devices, iPads and TV sets.
Prepaid subscribers will stand a chance of winning the prizes by consistently recharging their lines to earn points. New and existing subscribers on the Globacom Blackberry platform will earn a point for every Naira spent. The operator will award monthly, quarterly and yearly benefits.
A subscriber who accumulates between 2,001 and 5,000 points monthly will have US$0.49 free talktime automatically added to his account while points between 5,001 and 10,000 fetch US$0.98 in talktime.
Subscribers who have between 10,001 and 15,000 points monthly will get NGN 300 worth of free talktime and those who spend between 15,001 and 25,000 points will get a bonus talktime of US$13.07. Anyone who garners above 25,000 points will get US$13.07bonus talktime.
Those who garner points between 15,001 and 45,000 within the quarter get free horoscopes, news alerts and health tips. The annual reward offers subscribers who gather between 350,000 and 750,000 points any of the 500 iPods made available by Globacom, and those who earn between 750,001 and 1,200,000 points are qualified to receive a Blackberry device. With more than 1,200,000 points, subscribers will win a 3D TV set and an iPad.
Globacom launches micro Sims (Nigeria)
Globacom has launched micro Sims for its customers.
The smaller cards are aimed at subscribers with devices such as the Apple iPad and iPhone.
The micro Sim is less than half the size of the conventional Sim, and also has adequate space on its chip for numerous provider applications and increased control and security functions.
The card is available to both Glo prepaid and postpaid subscribers and comes with a price tag of US$4.49. The card is available at any Gloworld shop nationwide.
Globacom launches tracking service
Globacom has introduced a new and affordable tracking device known as GloWatch. The technology assists subscribers to track the movement, speed and location of their mobile assets such as cars, buses, motorbikes and boats anywhere in the country.
It is a GPS/GSM-powered device and works by delivering a stream of SMS communication between the mobile asset and the subscriber’s telephone set.
GloWatch gives the user automated reports such as speed and trip reports as well as date and time of events if the device has been pre-set for such reporting. The device does not rely heavily on network resources as it uses only the Glo SMS platform.
According to Globacom’s Head of Value Added Services, Samson Isa, the new product has an advantage over other tracking devices on the market. While such other competing products only allow signal tracking, GloWatch enables the subscriber to listen-in and eavesdrop on every conversation in the mobile asset at any point in time.
He added that there are over 20,000 pre-identified land marks in Nigeria for ease of reference and location, which can be zoomed into on Google maps. Pre-loaded landmarks are also available, thus offering the subscriber a very user-friendly experience and ability to track the asset with any mobile phone with a Glo SIM. GloWatch was developed to help tackle the menace of thieves. The subscribers can now sleep with both eyes closed while GloWatch watches over their mobile assets.
Senegal awards 4th mobile license to Globalcom
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile operator’s license in Senegal has been issued to Nigeria-based Globalcom (Glo Mobile) and it is the fourth to be awarded in the West African country. The concession will allow Globacom to land its Glo 1 trans-Atlantic submarine cable in Senegal, with opportunities to extend the infrastructure to Mali.
According to Nigerian firm’s chairman Mike Adenuga Jr, the license would enable the telco to offer ‘world class telecommunications services’ to the government and people of Senegal. It will continue to play a major role in stimulating a new era of prosperity in the sub-continent and build facilities that will offer Africa advanced telecoms services such as teleconferencing, distance learning, disaster recovery, telemedicine, on-line diagnosis and video conferencing during surgery and research.
The operator holds working license in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire but has threatened to exit the Ghanaian market citing sabotage as the reason.
Glo Mobile’s launch in Ghana under clouds
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Glo Mobile Ghana, a Ghanaian start-up has been contemplating pulling out of the country. A wholly owned subsidiary of Nigeria-based Globacom and a future operator is itself majority owned by Nigerian petrochemical firm Conpetro, a venture of the entrepreneur Mike Adenuga.
The company claimed that it faces significant challenges from ‘interests’ seemingly hell-bent on sabotaging its nationwide launch plans. GSM frequencies was awarded to Glo Mobile by the National Communications Authority (NCA) and since then it has faced obstacles in terms of seeking approval for the swift deployment of its base stations, an encroachment on the frequencies it was awarded by the NCA and the repeated vandalism of its advertising billboards.
According to the company officials, its efforts to affect a speedy rollout have been undermined by some forces which have been deliberately working around the clock to cripple its operation and prevent it from rolling out quickly, to the detriment of the Ghanaian society.
