When Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. proudly pulled the curtain to reveal Globacom after winning the Second National Operator (SNO) license in August 2002, the stage was set for the making of what is now the best brand ever made out of Nigeria.
Driven by patriotism, Globacom, has become a national character with world class outlook.
Globacom is much more than a national symbol; it is everything good in Nigeria.
The company’s promise is as good as its ability to deliver on it.
With the self-confident vision of the chief promoter, Globacom is now building biggest and best telecommunications network in Africa.
The principal business strategy to achieve this vision is expansion.
Road to Success
The amazing success of Globacom in the telecommunications sector has been a cause for national celebration and he has become an idol to Nigerian youths.
It came with determination and tenacity.
Remember that Dr Adenuga’s marks in oil and gas as well as banking and indeed the nation’s economy have been legendary, his venture into the telecommunications industry however a lot of ebbs.
In 2001, he ventured into telecommunications and began his search for a GSM licence, which he won.
A frequency allocated to him and his Communication Investment Limited (CIL) was encumbered and became subject of litigation.
CIL paid an initial US $20 million non-refundable deposit for the bidding and was only informed of problems associated with the licence at the point of payment by its bank, BN Paribas of France.
But CIL had paid the initial US $20 million non-refundable deposit for the bidding and was only told about the problematic license at the point of payment by its bank, BN Paribas of France.
While, he was struggling to regain his lost license, other licensees were busy deploying men and material for the launch of operations. Then, he saw a new window of opportunity, the National Operator License.
This was going to give him the GSM license, which he lost, a fixed and fixed wireless license, a gateway license and an online license. He went for it. Again, he was lucky. He won.
But his competitors had gone miles ahead. He plunged in and has now overtaken most of the early starters. He is currently dictating the pace and the tenor of the game.
How Globacom Got it Right
Globacom is credited for the first major tariff reduction in the country because before it launched a prepaid line was as expensive as N16, 000. Globacom cut that to N1, 999.
The company cut cost by 30-50 per cent, to N15-N20 per minute for frequent callers.
It did not stop there, Globacom is leader in innovation and that is a key to Globacom’s growth.
It is clearly a leader in the Nigerian market with respect to customer orientation.
Its unique marketing plans, product and tariff packages as well as superior service offering combined have made Globacom a world class company.
Many Firsts
First to introduce per-second billing (while other operators claimed it would only be possible by 2007);
•launched Txt2Email, a
service to send text messages from a mobile to any email address, and vice versa;
•offered Multimedia
Messaging Service (MMS);
•launched a mobile e-mail service with the Blackberry solution, thanks to Alcatel’s partnership with RIM;
•Magic Plus, a service to access information, business, sports and entertainment news;
•Glo Direct, which uses a mobile phone as a laptop modem via Globacom’s GPRS coverage;
•Glo Mobile Internet, via WAP and GPRS;
•Glo Fleetmanager, a vehicle tracking solution;
•M-banking, giving subscribers access to their bank accounts from their mobile phones.
The Big Bang
Driven by patriotism and desire to slash the high cost of bandwidth in Nigeria, Globacom is laying a 9,500-kilometre submarine telecommunications cable to connect Africa with Europe and the United States.
The submarine cable project, which is costing about $250m, will run from London to 14 West African countries, with a dedicated link to the United States.
It is expected to reach Ghana this year and shortly after, Nigeria.
The completion of the project will revolutionise telecoms services on the continent, and make them truly affordable to individuals and corporate bodies. It will also enable more services and products to be introduced by Globacom.
Aside developing Glo 1, Africa’s first private submarine fibre optic cable, Globacom is building one of the biggest and best telecommunication network in Africa
Pan African Company
Globacom is rolling out simultaneously across the West African countries from Ghana to Benin Republic; the Nigerian company is building world dream network.
In the build up to its dream of becoming a Pan African operator, Globacom is relying on its technical superiority, and ability to roll out quickly and effectively.
And the Chief Driver
Adenuga, has penchant for building something out of nothing. He is a quintessential businessman.
He is the sterling example of the type of business grit and entrepreneurial skill Africa needs to Cheeta pole vault its economies
A serial optimist, Adenuga, sees business where others do not. He has his hands in every good pie in the country.
Ingenuity is his second name because he started making money very early in life and has never looked back.
Adenuga described by former president of Ghana, John Kufor as a pride to Africa and a beacon of hope to the continent is a philanthropist of note.
Adenuga, 54 years old and a multibillionaire, is son of the late Ma Oyinkansola Adenuga, a wealthy trader.
Though son of a wealthy trader, he started the art of making money as a student in the United States where he took on two jobs — as a taxi driver and security guard — to sustain himself in school.
He is a man with the confidence for getting the proverbial honey out of the rock.