Nigeria's telecoms industry,
acclaimed as the fastest growing
in Africa, has once again, come
under global scrutiny on account
of recent activities in the sector.
The renewed interest in the
country’s telephony landscape is
occasioned by a price war that has
erupted among the four major
GSM operators, namely, MTN,
Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat.
Unlike a
conventional
war situation
fought with
bullets and
mortar,
tariffs and
fancy adverts
seem to be
the major
weapons of
the Nigerian
GSM battle.
This
aggressive approach is to increase
the market share of the respective
operators by acquiring and more
importantly, retaining more
subscribers on their mobile
networks.
The scramble for the addressable
market share among the
operators is understandable.
Nigeria is Africa ’s most populous
country with a population of over
150 million people. Furthermore,
the country has a vibrant oral
culture that has subsisted for
centuries, which keeps people
always talking to family and
friends. It would appear easier for
a Nigerian to reach out to a family
member or friend to pour out his/
her heart rather than resort to
other impersonal mediums like
writing or journaling as obtained
in other climes. And since the
world has transformed into a
global village with family
members scattered all over the
globe, the telephone has become
a veritable tool for such emotional
expressions. The telephone is also
seen as fundamental tool for the
realization of individual and
organizational aspirations.
Arguably, telephone operators
have discovered a gold mine in
Nigeria and its people, hence the
current price war.
The latest onslaught could be said
to have begun last August when
Etisalat Nigeria introduced a new
tariff proposition called Easy Life,
which allows customers on the
company ’s Easy Starter and Easy
Cliq packages to make calls at the
lower rate of 25kobo per second
to anyone on any network in
Nigeria. The tariff review,
according to officials of Etisalalt,
was predicated on the company ’s
commitment to bringing value
and affordable tariffs to the
company ’s customers.
A few months down the line, and
as part of its strategy to woo
customers after rebranding, Airtel
was to respond with a
promotional offer dubbed as the
‘ 2Good Offer’. The new package
enables its customers to pay
20kobo per second after an initial
60kobo in the first minute, and
applies to both to Airtel-to-Airtel
calls as well as calls to other
networks in Nigeria and the
United States.
Additionally, the 2Good Offer gives
20 free SMSes to every customer
who makes a recharge of N100
every month.
A few weeks into year
2011however, MTN on its part
rolled out three new voice plans
for its subscribers, namely, MTN
Magic number, MTN Talk-On and
MTN Family and Friends, each
focussing on the lower ARPU
segment of the market.
A careful examination of the offer
shows that the MTN magic number
is modelled after tariffs in the
advanced economies, where a
subscriber is given the option to
pay a flat rate for an indefinite
number of calls per month. In the
MTN Nigeria scenario, subscribers
pay N250 per month and receive
an unlimited amount of monthly
call time to one specific MTN
number which the subscriber has
designated as his/her magic
number for that particular month.
MTN Talk-On, on its part, allows the
subscriber up to 50% discount on
MTN-to-MTN calls only, with the
first minute charged at 50kobo per
second, thereafter, on net calls are
charged at 25kobo per second for
the rest of the day.
In the same vein, Family & Friends
allows subscribers to register 4
MTN numbers, 1 other GSM
network number and 1 United
States or Canadian number, the
subscribers can then call all these
numbers at 20kobo per second.
Another addition to the MTN True
Value Offer is the MTN Happy Hour
which allows free calls to as many
MTN numbers between the hours
of 12.30 am and 4.40 am every
day, weekends inclusive.
However, the service is limited to
subscribers on the MTN Paygo and
Talk-on plans.
However, in its characteristic
manner of jolting the Nigerian
telephony market, Globacom on
Thursday, March 10 announced the
introduction of a new Glo infinito
which allows subscribers to pay
only 25 kobo per second for calls
made to any network in Nigeria.
The 25 kobo per second charge is
a flat rate which applies for all
local calls irrespective of which
network is being called or time of
day or which part of the country
the call is originating from.
The new package also allows
subscribers to call one Special
Number at only 2 kobo per
second. Interestingly, no daily or
monthly rental is charged to enjoy
the very cheap rate. The
subscriber, however, has an
option of registering 5 Glo
numbers which he can call at 18
kobo per second. Again,
registration is free and there is no
rental charge.
In addition to the tariffs, Glo is also
offering up to 20% bonus on
recharges made by subscribers.
N500 recharge attracts a 10%
bonus credit, while N1000
recharge will give the customer
15% bonus air time. On the other
hand, N5,000 recharge gives a
20% bonus credit to the customer.
Glo is also offering free night calls
from 12 midnight to 5 a.m.
Subscribers are expected to have
used up to N200 air time in the
previous week to qualify to make
free night calls for the next 7 days.
Perhaps, the new tariff regime
may reposition the brand,
including shifting public
perception of Glo as a challenger-
brand to the transformer and
creator of history in the Nigerian
telecom industry.
Looking more closely at the
different offers and value
propositions of the operators,
ranging from Etisalat ’s Easy Life to
Airtel’s 2Good, from MN’s True
Value to Globacom’s Maximum
Value, it would appear that
interesting times are here for the
Nigerian GSM consumers even as
he has risen from being on the
receiving end of harsh realities to
a new-found position of freedom
and kingship.
But with the new Glo offer, the
subscriber gets a truthful and
easy-to-understand payment plan.
For instance, while the Glo
subscriber pays N15 for first
minute of call made within and
outside the network, other
networks charge between N24 and
N30 for calls within the network
and between N30 and N36 for calls
going outside the network.
It may not be out of place to say
that the latest Glo offer is another
revolutionary phase in telecom
services, as its unique tariff plan is
devoid of any rental payments,
hidden charges, and conditions.
This may become the stimulant
that would propel more growth in
the sector and continue to make
Nigeria ’s telecom the toast of
investors across the world.
