The telecoms industry in Nigeria is set for more disruption with the planned launch of the industry’s latest entrant NTEL this month. The launch is expected to be the most exciting development in the industry in the last couple of years.
The timing of this development couldn’t be more appropriate considering the fact that the industry is the attracting the attention of industry watchers across the world who are closely monitoring developments related to the industry record high fine slammed on MTN. The tech industry is therefore in dire need of some positive news and this is why the launch of NTEL is well timed.
At a press conference attended by Innovation Village last week, it was revealed that the new telecoms company will offer its services via the GSM technology with a plan to run 4G technologies across the country.
NATCOM Development and Investment Limited, which bought over NITEL through a guided liquidation process, and now trading as NTEL, said it will launch in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt this month as its first phase roll-out, before extending its telecommunications services to other states, towns and villages across the country.
It would be recalled that NATCOM launched as a consortium of companies that came together to bid for the core assets of NITEL/MTEL through a guided liquidation process. Having acquired the telecom licenses to operate in Nigeria as a GSM operator, NTEL becomes the newest telecom operator in Nigeria.
Announcing its debut, its Chief Executive Officer, Kamal Abass, said in its first phase NTEL would launch international bandwidth services over SAT-3 and a 4G mobile network covering Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. According to him, NTEL would be offering three portfolios of telecoms services in the areas of Business Mobile Network International, Voice Termination International Bandwidth Delivery and the Metro Bandwidth Fixed Services.
When Innovation Village spoke to reps of telecoms companies operating in Nigeria, on NTEL’s planned commencement of operations, they described the announcement as a welcome development but affirmed that they were not threatened by the new company.
But many industry watchers believe the November launch would represent the boldest and most serious attempt so far to relaunch the moribund national telecoms companies that had been repeatedly liquidated.
“If the new owners can adequately leverage on NITEL’s infrastructure and quickly spread across the country, they have a chance especially at this time when there is widespread disappointment in how the foreign companies are treating Nigerian subscribers and are attempting to evade tax at the same time. A rejuvenated NTEL may be the soothing balm for the telecoms wounds of many Nigerian subscribers,” an NCC rep told Innovation Village.
