Excitement and heightened expectations have continued to greet the many prospective subscribers of Etisalat Nigeria following the launch recently of the now famous 0809uchoose campaign by the latest GSM service provider in the Nigerian telecom market. Etisalat Nigeria, basking on the rich history of its parent company with telecommunications services in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa has promised Nigerians world class service. Mr. Wael Ammar, vice president, Marketing, Etisalat Nigeria spoke to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on the company’s preparation for commercial launch.
Late Entrant and Competition
Not at all. The Nigerian market is a large, dynamic and interesting market.
Teledensity is still relatively low compared to other markets around the world therefore there is still a lot of opportunity for us and other players to come to the market and stand out with the quality of our offerings.
New Offerings
We have a robust history of operating in different markets around the world. In all the markets we operate, we have always brought exciting innovations and well thought out products and services to our customers.
The Nigerian market will be no different as you can see from our current 0809uchoose unique market entry campaign.
There is certainly many more where that came from.
Delay in Unveiling Etisalat
We are a global business operation that places a premium on quality.
It has indeed taken us a while to go to market but it has all been so that when we do roll out services commercially, our customers in Nigeria would enjoy the benefit of unrivaled quality of service both in terms of our network and also in terms of our customer service.
Tariff Regimes, Poor Quality of Service and Etisalat
One of our hallmarks in the 15 markets we operate in Middle East, Africa and Asia is the quality of our service.
Those are the legacies we will be bringing to Nigeria without any doubt.
Our tariff regime will surely be announced and like everything else we do, we will have the customers’ interests at heart.
Infrastructure
We have a winning business model comprising of co-locating where possible and of course rolling out our own infrastructure.
0809uchoose Campaign
With 0809uchoose, our potential subscribers can dial into our network via the numbers that 0809uchoose stand for, that is 08098246673, and choose mobile numbers for themselves that actually do mean something to them. These numbers are free of any charge whatsoever (except for Gold, Silver or bronze numbers which make up just about five percent of the 1 million numbers available in this promotion). The numbers are free, the SIM cards are also free. On top of that, customers who reserve their numbers via this campaign will get free airtime for life on our network. Customers can also reserve their numbers by visiting our website on www.etisalat.com.ng/uchoose or via any of our sales team who have begun a promotion on the streets of Nigeria’s major cities.
Etisalat’s Internet Revolution
At the time we will be rolling out our service, ours will be a fully integrated network that will have the capacity to deliver world class service to our teeming subscribers all over Nigeria.
Manpower Challenge
We are at the moment building a world class team made up of mainly Nigerian professionals from all walks of life who we consider as the best in their areas of expertise. The process for us is an ongoing one that is not set to end until we have the best brains in place to help us deliver our top quality service vision to the people of Nigeria.
Etisalat’s Wealth of Experience and Nigerian Operations
Given the fact that we have indeed been operating in other parts of the world successfully for 32 years, Nigerians can look forward to benefiting from the wealth of experience that we will be coming to the Nigerian market with. Our global outlook will enable us to bring synergies to play that will benefit all our customers in Nigeria.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Etisalat believes strongly in giving back to our communities, extending our reach and technology to make our society a better place. Our CSR programme at Etisalat Nigeria takes a powerful two-pronged 'bottoms up' and 'top down' approach with programmes in Education & Leadership development for young Nigerians, Health and the Environment.
