In two years of operation, Etisalat Nigeria acquires 3G Licence
By Moses Nosike
The late entrant in the Nigerian telecommunication market, but the most expanding network in Nigeria, Etisalat Nigeria has acquired 3G licence to essentially boost its mobile broadband experience in Nigeria. Etisalat Nigeria is a GSM operator in Nigeria, operated in partnership with Etisalat, the leading mobile operator in the Middle East.
EMTS, Etisalat Nigeria, announced the agreed purchase of Alheri Mobile Services Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of the Dangote Group in Lagos. Alheri Mobile is a holder of a 3G licence for Nigeria . Management sources said that the acquisition will put Etisalat Nigeria in the position of having immediate access to and full use of a 3G licence in line with the other three GSM operators in Nigeria.
CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Steven E. Evans, said, “we are delighted to acquire the 3G licence, which is an essential element of our plans for further developing the market for mobile broadband in Nigeria.
We have placed a strong emphasis on offering data services to all our customers from launch through enabling edge on all our cell sites throughout Nigeria . Now with 3G, we can further develop our data and mobile broadband portfolio and offer our customers even higher levels of service. There is pent-up demand in Nigeria for broadband and we intend to be leaders in satisfying it.”
In addition, the Chairman of EMTS, Mr Hakeem Bello Osagie said, “we are very happy with the acquisition of the 3G license and with the professional way in which the negotiations were led by Mr Aliko Dangote and his team. We look forward to further cooperation in the future.”
Managing Director of Alheri Mobile, Boye Olusanya, and Head of Dangote’s telecommunications arm confirmed that, “it makes sense for us to sell Alheri Mobile to Etisalat Nigeria as we believe that the market here can only sustain four mobile operators in the medium to long term”.
Management of the Etisalat Nigeria reiterated that careful planning before rolling out services and making sure that what they promise customers is the same quality they will deliver, saying that its 30 years of experience as it were is the secret of the network fast expansion.
