In its effort to assist in achieving Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) 30 percent broadband penetration target by the end of this year, Spectranet has re-strategies its service delivery model focusing on quality, affordability, secured and innovative services.
Mr. Ajay Awasthi, chief executive officer, Spectranet, said that Spectranet is not just talking about connectivity, rather high speed broadband connectivity.
“There are 100 plus ISPs in Nigeria with only three or four of them active in the market. What is very important is 24/7, 365 days internet availability. That is where Spectranet is going to play very important role to ensure broadband availability. With broadband availability, you can start talking about critical services such as Internet of Things which demands ‘real time’ service delivery.
“Secondly, affordability; you might have services, but how affordable are they? Again, Spectranet is going to provide to the market affordable and high quality service available to the masses.
“Thirdly, we are providing quality service. You may have massive online courses, for instance, but without high speed internet you can’t access the accompanying videos. If you look at statistics 2/3 of the online courses happen on videos. I think the speed is very critical.
“We render secured and innovative services. Another big growth is happening in the realm of Fintech. We have seen a lot of payment gateways happening in this market.
"A lot of people are subscribing to these online payment gateways, but when you are offering broadband services to these connectivity to them they need to be secured. This is where we are playing a very important role.
“One thing we have realized is that the customer needs to be at the center of everything. As far as any company’s strategy is concerned customer satisfaction will keep repeating. We are investing in class customer experience, especially for them to watch videos without buffering. It has to be consistent experience,” he noted.
Speaking on digital economy, he said; “One key change happening across the global market led by more penetration of mobile broadband is online shopping.
"You will see some mind boggling figures. For example, in China almost $752billion online transactions took place in the country. It is not just about the shopping, it completely changes market structures; gives opportunities to smaller businesses and entrepreneurs to enlist themselves on this huge market place and start selling from there.
“Same is going to happen here within a short time. Entrepreneurs, artisans, etc., are going to enlist and get access to nations buying their products. Most of these online marketplaces are transforming the way businesses are being done.
“In Nigeria you have platforms like Jumia and Konga, who are professionals in that regard. However, for the ecosystem to be successful, it needs high speed broadband connectivity.
"That is precisely where we will come in. once you have high speed broadband, it gives you the opportunity to work from home; you need not pass through the traffics. Broadband empowers telemedicine and so many other things that get enabled.
He added; “Easy access to education is another big transformation globally and more so in developing countries like ours. There are massive online courses available from very reputable universities. So, access to education has become very easy. But, the key thing there is broadband connectivity.
“That is what is going to scale up the economy. Another important thing is bridging the digital divide. I was reading a report that Nigeria has almost 93 million people who have access to the internet.
"That is a healthy sign, but there are equally a number of people who still do not have access to broadband. What happens is that: once they have access to the mainstream economy through broadband, it starts changing the economy and their view of things changes,” he said.
