By
Atim Nkese Nkpubre
Nigerians received
with mixed feelings the news from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
about the composite GSM subscriber figure in the country. At a send-forth dinner
for former NCC board members in Abuja penultimate Saturday, the Executive Vice
Chairman of the NCC , Dr. Eugene Juwah, gave the number of subscribers in
Nigeria as over 113 million with an investment profile currently standing at
about a whooping $25 billion! Nigeria has, indeed, witnessed a huge advancement
in the telecommunications sector.
Before the advent of GSM in the country in 2001, Nigeria’s teledensity was said
to be among the lowest in the world. However, the GSM phenomenon has
dramatically grown the country’s teledensity from 400,000 land lines to over 113
million mobile lines in a little over a decade, more telephone lines than had
ever been available to Nigerians for decades. And kudos to the NCC for
completing the nationwide SIM registration exercise.
The biblical injunction about not despising the days of humble beginning rings very true in the GSM scenario. When the journey began in January 2001 with the auction of GSM licence in Abuja, who would have thought we’d come this far in so short a time? The auction in itself which was applauded by many as open, fair and transparent was a great start to what has turned out to be a revolution!
In January 2001, Nigeria had awarded GSM spectrum licences to three operators, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Econet Wireless Network and a reserved bid for NITEl. NITEL, the proverbial unproductive servant appears to have buried its own talent leaving successive governments at a loss as to what to do to revive this moribund enterprise.
That the operators were willing to pay a whooping $285 million for an operating licence was in itself indicative of the scale they were to operate on in Nigeria. The auction raised about $855 million in what has been described by Doyle and McShane of Charles Rivers Associate, London, as ”an excellent case study of economic theory confronting the realities of political economy in a new democratic environment within an emerging economy.” The telecom sector has continued to be one big source of revenue to the Nigerian government.
Barely three months after procuring the license MTN became the first GSM network to make a test call in the GSM dispensation, on May 16, 2001. But launch of commercial service actually commenced on 6th August 2001 with the then Econet Wireless Nigeria (which has metamorphosed into Airtel) being the first to roll out service. MTN followed suit 2 days later on 8th August, thus the stage was set for what would turn out an epic battle for market share.
Glo was to join the foray in August 2003 launching on the Per Second Billing platform and by so doing, changing the rules of engagement. Time really does fly and Glo is set to roll out the green carpet in celebration of its 10th anniversary this August.
I’ve worked with three GSM companies in different roles but handling the same communications function. I worked on the Econet Wireless Nigeria account as an Account Manager at The Quadrant Company, the foremost PR company in Nigeria. In December 2002, I joined MTN Nigerian Communications Limited as its Assistant Public Relations Manager leaving in 2006 to join Globacom as the Corporate Affairs Manager for over five years, before leaving to set up shop. My career in the telecoms sector, spanning about a decade is an experience that I’ll forever cherish.
It’s all fair and square now, but does anyone remember the scenario before the introduction of GSM when telephone lines were sold for upwards of N200,000 by the fixed wireless operators and one even had to pay to receive calls?
The GSM phenomenon has brought an unprecedented boost to the Nigerian economy,
creating jobs and job opportunities for million who now make a living from GSM-
related or GSM inspired streams of income. Aside being the envy of some other
sectors, GSM has become a showpiece of the huge potential that abounds in
Nigeria. Yes, this is the place to be and we should be proud of collective
achievement in the GSM sector.
Now, we are basking in the euphoria of new possibilities and have imbibed the GSM sub-culture to such an extent that we all carry on like we were born with the mobile phones in our hands. Some Nigerians cannot do without making and receiving calls even while driving on major highways, and in spite of warnings from the law enforcement agencies to the contrary. I’m not surprised that our Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), at a time, was said to be about the highest in the world, despite our condition. We just love to talk!
At the commencement of the GSM era, a SIM card sold for about N20k in some instances and per minute call was billed at N50. When the likes of Afam Edozie, the pioneering Chief Marketing Officer for MTN Nigeria, kept on emphasising that economies of scale would begin to apply in the course of time, quite a few people took it with a pinch of salt. But look what is happening now. A SIM card is selling at a rock-bottom price of about N100 - almost free of charge, proving that prices of goods and services can indeed come down in Nigeria. The cost of GSM services has come down drastically, so much so that, it is about the only service that is still being denominated in kobo in today’s Nigeria. In comparative terms, it is even cheaper than local bubble gum, kola nut or candy.
I remember the song and dance that used to accompany the attainment of significant subscribers figure in the early days. Operators would usually roll out the drum to celebrate 500, subscribers, 100,000, one million or five million etc. At a meeting we attended at the MTN headquarters in South Africa in 2003, a former colleague from MTN Rwanda had very proudly reported a figure in the neighbourhood of 350,000 or thereabout after years of operation in their country. We, from MTN Nigeria had exchanged knowing glances as if to say “bros, we are talking serious business here”! Civilised creatures that we are, we didn’t put a pin to his bubble, no, but John Bosco, a jolly good fellow seemed to have got the message when the staggering figures in millions were reported from the Nigerian operation in about a year or so of operation. Up Naija!
From the early days of satellite operation through the era of microwave transmission and now fibre optic, from 2G to 4G, from voice to data and everything in between, the industry seems to have come full circle. Even 3G that was thought to be the Concorde of multimedia is already giving way to 4G. Yes, a dozen years down the line, the industry is still dealing with a whole new world of emerging technologies. The GSM business has a way of reinventing itself, almost in a clockwise fashion.
Now, as the industry forges ahead, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) seems to be the next big thing on the horizon. We, surely, are getting into the deep ends.
With number portability owners of the over 113 millions mobile telephone lines in the country will be able to migrate from one network operator to another without losing their original numbers. It would allow Nigerians interchange networks, for example, dropping the MTN network for Airtel or Glo or the reverse without actually losing their phone numbers.
The key differentiator and determinant of subscriber figure on any network would be service quality. What that simply means is that the number of subscribers on any network would be determined by the strength of that network, which would also determine the revenue. The initiative which the NCC is set to implement in a short while is generally expected to foster healthy competition among operators and would differentiate the men from the boys in the telecoms landscape. If properly implemented, Mobile Number Portability would result in a case of shape up or ship out for the operators. Kai, I foresee another epic battle ahead.
The biblical injunction about not despising the days of humble beginning rings very true in the GSM scenario. When the journey began in January 2001 with the auction of GSM licence in Abuja, who would have thought we’d come this far in so short a time? The auction in itself which was applauded by many as open, fair and transparent was a great start to what has turned out to be a revolution!
In January 2001, Nigeria had awarded GSM spectrum licences to three operators, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Econet Wireless Network and a reserved bid for NITEl. NITEL, the proverbial unproductive servant appears to have buried its own talent leaving successive governments at a loss as to what to do to revive this moribund enterprise.
That the operators were willing to pay a whooping $285 million for an operating licence was in itself indicative of the scale they were to operate on in Nigeria. The auction raised about $855 million in what has been described by Doyle and McShane of Charles Rivers Associate, London, as ”an excellent case study of economic theory confronting the realities of political economy in a new democratic environment within an emerging economy.” The telecom sector has continued to be one big source of revenue to the Nigerian government.
Barely three months after procuring the license MTN became the first GSM network to make a test call in the GSM dispensation, on May 16, 2001. But launch of commercial service actually commenced on 6th August 2001 with the then Econet Wireless Nigeria (which has metamorphosed into Airtel) being the first to roll out service. MTN followed suit 2 days later on 8th August, thus the stage was set for what would turn out an epic battle for market share.
Glo was to join the foray in August 2003 launching on the Per Second Billing platform and by so doing, changing the rules of engagement. Time really does fly and Glo is set to roll out the green carpet in celebration of its 10th anniversary this August.
I’ve worked with three GSM companies in different roles but handling the same communications function. I worked on the Econet Wireless Nigeria account as an Account Manager at The Quadrant Company, the foremost PR company in Nigeria. In December 2002, I joined MTN Nigerian Communications Limited as its Assistant Public Relations Manager leaving in 2006 to join Globacom as the Corporate Affairs Manager for over five years, before leaving to set up shop. My career in the telecoms sector, spanning about a decade is an experience that I’ll forever cherish.
It’s all fair and square now, but does anyone remember the scenario before the introduction of GSM when telephone lines were sold for upwards of N200,000 by the fixed wireless operators and one even had to pay to receive calls?
The GSM phenomenon has brought an unprecedented boost to the Nigerian economy,
creating jobs and job opportunities for million who now make a living from GSM-
related or GSM inspired streams of income. Aside being the envy of some other
sectors, GSM has become a showpiece of the huge potential that abounds in
Nigeria. Yes, this is the place to be and we should be proud of collective
achievement in the GSM sector.Now, we are basking in the euphoria of new possibilities and have imbibed the GSM sub-culture to such an extent that we all carry on like we were born with the mobile phones in our hands. Some Nigerians cannot do without making and receiving calls even while driving on major highways, and in spite of warnings from the law enforcement agencies to the contrary. I’m not surprised that our Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), at a time, was said to be about the highest in the world, despite our condition. We just love to talk!
At the commencement of the GSM era, a SIM card sold for about N20k in some instances and per minute call was billed at N50. When the likes of Afam Edozie, the pioneering Chief Marketing Officer for MTN Nigeria, kept on emphasising that economies of scale would begin to apply in the course of time, quite a few people took it with a pinch of salt. But look what is happening now. A SIM card is selling at a rock-bottom price of about N100 - almost free of charge, proving that prices of goods and services can indeed come down in Nigeria. The cost of GSM services has come down drastically, so much so that, it is about the only service that is still being denominated in kobo in today’s Nigeria. In comparative terms, it is even cheaper than local bubble gum, kola nut or candy.
I remember the song and dance that used to accompany the attainment of significant subscribers figure in the early days. Operators would usually roll out the drum to celebrate 500, subscribers, 100,000, one million or five million etc. At a meeting we attended at the MTN headquarters in South Africa in 2003, a former colleague from MTN Rwanda had very proudly reported a figure in the neighbourhood of 350,000 or thereabout after years of operation in their country. We, from MTN Nigeria had exchanged knowing glances as if to say “bros, we are talking serious business here”! Civilised creatures that we are, we didn’t put a pin to his bubble, no, but John Bosco, a jolly good fellow seemed to have got the message when the staggering figures in millions were reported from the Nigerian operation in about a year or so of operation. Up Naija!
From the early days of satellite operation through the era of microwave transmission and now fibre optic, from 2G to 4G, from voice to data and everything in between, the industry seems to have come full circle. Even 3G that was thought to be the Concorde of multimedia is already giving way to 4G. Yes, a dozen years down the line, the industry is still dealing with a whole new world of emerging technologies. The GSM business has a way of reinventing itself, almost in a clockwise fashion.
Now, as the industry forges ahead, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) seems to be the next big thing on the horizon. We, surely, are getting into the deep ends.
With number portability owners of the over 113 millions mobile telephone lines in the country will be able to migrate from one network operator to another without losing their original numbers. It would allow Nigerians interchange networks, for example, dropping the MTN network for Airtel or Glo or the reverse without actually losing their phone numbers.
The key differentiator and determinant of subscriber figure on any network would be service quality. What that simply means is that the number of subscribers on any network would be determined by the strength of that network, which would also determine the revenue. The initiative which the NCC is set to implement in a short while is generally expected to foster healthy competition among operators and would differentiate the men from the boys in the telecoms landscape. If properly implemented, Mobile Number Portability would result in a case of shape up or ship out for the operators. Kai, I foresee another epic battle ahead.
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