Amid a litany of strident complaints by subscribers about poor quality of services offered by existing mobile phone subscribers in Nigeria, a fifth operator has opened its doors beckoning dissatisfied customers and new ones to hop on its train, hopefully, for something better.
Sneaking in quietly without pomp or pageantry, Ntel, Nigeria’s mobile phone operator promoted by the National Development and Investment Company (NATCOM), which bought the former Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), finally signalled the start of operations on April 8, 2016, beginning with rollout in Lagos and Abuja in the first phase of commercial operation.
With that the much anticipated launch of the fifth mobile network operator in Nigeria became reality, though Ntel’s licence is not entirely new, having been the very same that was issued MTel, the mobile arm of NITEL, in the digital mobile licence auction of January 2001 along with MTN and then Econet (now Airtel Nigeria).
Ntel announced its niche at take-off being what it described as Nigeria’s most advanced 4G Long Term Evolution(LTE) Network, promising exciting offers that would see the first 100,000 customers to redeem and activate their Ntel SIMs getting free on-net calls for life while data subscribers will get three months unlimited data usage on select bundles.
Announcing the commencement of operation in Lagos at a media briefing, Mr. Kamar Abass, Chief Executive Officer of Ntel, said the operation comes with bumper offers for early bird pioneers and data users, with the earliest customers being able to buy and use their services in clusters across Lagos and Abuja from sales outlets, and agents featuring their bright new brand name: Ntel.
According to Abass, Ntel’s commencement of operation is the culmination of its journey from acquiring the old NITEL/Mtel assets.
“The first 100,000 to redeem and activate their Ntel SIMs will get free on-net calls for life, while data subscribers will get three months unlimited data usage.”
He announced the establishment of the Pioneers Club to reward early bird joiners to its network and those who had reserved their numbers, and who subsequently activated its SIM the month of launch, April 2016. The Ntel chief executive said the company’s 4G/LTE-Advanced technology built on the 900/1800 MHz spectrum would deliver unbeatable and game changing customer experience of high-speed internet access up to 230Mbps.
He said the access was the fastest available in Nigeria and it would enable a world of full mobile broadband experience that would transform both lives and livelihood. He said that the 800 sites bought from Mtel and NITEL would serve for coverage area but that there was also room for collocation. Abass said that mobile coverage would grow steadily and strongly over the next four to six weeks across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
“We are passionate at Ntel about the power of broadband to boost productivity, and thereby transform lives. We expect to see this happen as Ntel helps to accelerate the ongoing migration from existing 2G and 3G services to genuinely high-speed mobile broadband on 4G/LTE-advanced.’’
Ntel, according to him, is offering an exciting range of price bundles with high quality mobile experience to improve productivity and it came in three forms; Smartphone Starter, Smartphone Standard and Smartphone High. He urged subscribers to buy a 4G LTE device from Ntel so as to enjoy the many features that the network would offer. He listed the features as; high speed broadband, high definition crystal clear voice, high quality video without buffering, a chance to be one of the pioneers’ club member and device financing.
The Ntel boss also listed their business partners as; agent entrepreneurs, device retail outlets, high-touch and service points, online retail, Ntel stores and experience centres and also virtual top-up channels. He said that they had a point of sale device known as ”Kuchio” that would perform the full range of sales and support activities. “The introduction of Kuchio will push telephoning deeper into the rural area.
“Ntel’s business capabilities are focused on addressing the emerging data ongoing migration from 2G to 3G and 4G. In 4G world, congestion is better managed,” he said. Abass also listed some mobile phones which support the 4G as Tecno C5, Samsung S6 Edge, Konka L5 70S(R1)(R2)(E1), Phantom 5, Infinix Zero 3, Infinix Note 2 among others.
The Lagos and Abuja operation, according to the company, would be followed by Port Harcourt in May, along with expanded coverage in Lagos and Abuja, and subsequently to other states, across multiple geo-political zones, during the second half of 2016.