Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Globacom launches network in Benin(Inside Africa) June 9, 2008

Story:Michael Donkor,Cotonou
GLOBACOM (Glo) Telecommunication network services of Nigeria has launched its network in Benin to provide telecommunication services in that country.
Launching the programme, Benin's Minister of Communication, Mr Desire Adadja on behalf of the President of Benin, Dr Thomas Boni Yayi said the entrance of Glo into Benin Republic’s telecommunication market was expected to transform the sector.
He said he had always wished that Glo, having changed the landscape in Nigeria, would come to Benin to make communication better for the people.
Mr Adadja noted that, Glo had enhanced the relationship between Benin and Nigeria with the step it had taken.
He said the step had removed the border between the two countries and would enable the people of Benin and Nigeria to communicate and interact as one.
The Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., in a telecast message said Glo’s intention was to change the telecommunication landscape in Benin Republic and the business environment in Africa.
He stated that Glo would build the biggest and bestnetwork in Africa.
He assured the people of Benin Republic that Glo would give them a top quality network at affordable rates.
“When we gave this proposition upon our launch in Nigeria five years ago, some people felt it was a tall ambition. A few years down the line, they have begun to take us more seriously”, Dr Adenuga said.
Earlier at a press conference, the company said it had pioneered the introduction of Per Second Billing (PSB) into the country.
PSB gives the subscriber the power to pay only for the actual time spent on the phone.
This generally contrasts with the bundled seconds which operates in the Benin telecoms market at the moment.
For example, a subscriber who speaks for 21 seconds automatically pays for 40 seconds since he is bundled to 20 seconds each time.
But with Glo Per Second Billing platform, the caller only pays for 21 seconds or any exact seconds the call lasted.
The company also announced the commencement of its value added services like Multi-Media Messaging Service (MMS), Glo Magic Plus, Vehicle Tracking, Caller Tunes and Mobile banking.
MMS enables the user to send a combination of data, voice and pictures to loved ones, while Magic Plus enables the user to keep abreast of latest developments in information, entertainment and business.
Dr Adenuga said Glo had substantially covered the country, a position which puts it ahead of its competitors.
He said what had taken other networks six to seven years to achieve had only taken Glo Mobile Benin six months to accomplish.
“Today, even before launch, we have more base stations, we have greater switch capacity and greater network capacity than any network currently existing in the country" he added.
He said Glo had 156 base stations across the country while the closest competition had 120 base stations,”.
Glo presently has a total network capacity for three million subscribers.

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