Etisalat assures Nigerians on network services

GSM operator Etisalat Nigeria is moving to assure Nigerians that, though its commercial services rollout is taking some time, its network platform ultimately will be reliable.

Etisalat may be slow to offer the wide variety of services it plans, but it is taking its time to build a dependable network, according to Etisalat Nigeria CEO Saoud Al Shamsi. Al Shamsi gave this assurance while briefing the Nigerian media at the ITU-Telecom Africa 2008 conference in Cairo, after conducting Ernest Ndukwe, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), around the Etisalat booth. The NCC is Nigeria's telecom regulator.

"We are making sure our network is very resilient," Al Shamsi said.

Though industry critics may not be comfortable with the delay, Etisalat is not going to rush out services, Al Shamsi said. He promised to replicate, in Nigeria, the success story of Etisalat Egypt. Etisalat Egypt, which began commercial services a little over a year ago, reportedly is recording more than a million subscribers within two months of its launch.

Al Shamsi dismissed speculation that the telco was delaying the launch of commercial services due to plans to acquire smaller local telecom operators in Nigeria.

"There is no discussion so far to acquire any local small operator," Al Shamsi said.

The operator's major concern is to provide state-of-the-art services to the Nigerian people, and the company is targeting most cities in Nigeria, Al Shamsi said.

While commending Etisalat after the tour of the booth, the NCC's Ndukwe said he was impressed with what he had seen, and hopes that services will be made available to Nigerian subscribers as soon as possible.

"Only then would I, of course, be more impressed," Ndukwe declared.