The Best Business Strategy For Telecommunication Companies in Nigeria

A friend of mine questioned me rhetorically, how life would have been without social media. Almost every youth across the country who has access to a mobile phone burn data in one form or the other. And we just imagine how life was before the mobile phones and the new breeds of smartphones were invented.

I’m not sure who this message is intended for, but it could be useful to you someday when you decide to set up a telecommunication company. It could also mean that this information could leak into the ‘ears’ of the popular telecommunication companies in Nigeria like MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile if they do not already know them. These big telecommunication companies are involved in some sort of struggle but I have determined what advantage the best of them probably have over the others with the hope that the weaker one can work on their weaknesses too, and the stronger can get better.
The ultimate aim is to ensure a better quality of telecommunication service rendering to the entire Nigerian population.

Data has become part of life, people depend on the internet on a per-second basis. But the question of what the end-users of data actually needs can only be most accurately answered from the perspective of the end-users themselves.

As an end-user of data in Nigeria, there are some things I personally consider very important in changing the baseline of any telecommunication company in the country. There are some factors that need to be considered to maximally optimize user and sale performance on a grand scale. 

The ongoing competition amongst the different telecommunication companies in the country is only as tough as it is because they have not taken time to look into what the people truly want and what their complaints are. The truth is with the increasing demand for data in the country and the world at large, there is actually room for every of the existing telecommunication companies in the industry and even new ones to thrive maximally without any interference.

A Brief History

Strive Masiyiwa, a Zimbabwean businessman, philanthropist and youths mentor/coach, founded the first mobile network, ECONET, in Nigeria. This was later taken over by MTN after he left the country. But after his major feat of introducing one of the first mobile telecommunication company on the African continent, others had taken their own turns too. 

The landline communication under the coverage of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited(NITEL) was soon replaced by the Olusegun Obasanjo’s pioneered Global Systems of Communications(GSM) through which ECONET wireless was able to gain expression in the mobile phone and wireless communication industry. GSM was introduced by the former President in the third year of his first term precisely on the 6th of August, 2001.

ECONET Wireless is said to be the first network provider to make the first live call using GSM in the country on June 8, 2001. It was then shortly followed by MTN that was introduced on May 16, 2001, but began operations in August of the same year. 

Only three telecommunication companies were initially licensed by the Nigerian government, and they included Econet Wireless, MTN, and MTEL. Lagos state was first to enjoy GSM services, followed by Abuja, then Port Harcourt after which it started becoming widespread until today. 

The networks were launched under the 900 and 1800 MHZ spectrum, which charged users at N50 per minute of talk-time. There was no per second billing system until when Mike Adenuga’s Globacom Nigeria Limited (Glo) ventured into the market in 2003 to introduce the per-second billing system.

If you must understand what the secret of growing the most successful telecommunication network in Nigeria, you must understand some few things about the history of telecommunications in Nigeria. NITEL which was actually the first (non-mobile) telecommunication company in Nigeria was run by the public sector and it was criticized in the manner with which they served the Nigerian populace. Does this give you a clue yet?

As far as the telecommunication industry is concerned, customer care and satisfaction will always remain a top-ranking factor. And if any telecommunication company must rise to the peak of the game like some of them already has, it must take special cognizance of this fact.

Before I inadvertently spill out everything about the strategies, I will now go on to the section for the strategies.

Business Strategies For Telecommunication Companies in Nigeria

Ensure optimal or super-optimal customer satisfaction

Many social services like telecommunication and banking services have this component as a very important one. People get more interested when they feel that they are being listened to and at the right time. Network providers of this century have worked really hard to enhance customer service satisfaction but the truth remains where it has always been. The telecommunication company that does this the best would be the king and would remain so if they keep leading the game with that component.

Quick and easy channels to reach out to agents

People do not just buy a product, but before they do, they ensure that it would be easy for them to maintain when anything goes wrong. Reaching out to service agents when they are in need of some help can make a huge difference between having more subscribers that would never leave, and having very few and unstable customers.

Have a widespread coverage of network services

As far the telecommunication industry in Nigeria is concerned, having a broad coverage over most of the villages and communities can make a very big difference. People want to subscribe to the company that can offer reliable services even when they move, permanently or temporarily to a new location. This factor remains a major ranking factor for telecommunication companies in Nigeria.

Ensure maximal internet speeds

The young people have the largest share of network usage in almost every country in the world, and Nigeria is not left out. Effectively targetting this population is a giant stride becoming the giant telecommunication company in the country. This population group depend largely on internet data for their daily activities and social media interactions. Providing fast internet network and affordable data plans would drive them more towards the provider of such services

Promotional offers and gifts

People naturally love gifts and price subsidies. By providing promotional offers as special offers peculiar to your company, you are able to pull more people towards yourself more than you would otherwise do. This has been since the beginning of wireless telecommunication in Nigeria and thankfully, most the existing companies have relentlessly continued giving out gifts and alluring promotional offers, but it is still worth noting here.

Some of these strategies may seem too expensive to carry out but in the long run, the company would achieve an economy of scale, where the profit marginally increases in the long-run.
Telecommunication business in Nigeria and in every other part of the world is largely charged with the need to provide ease of communication to the entire populace. Users want to be able to access help and get solutions easily when anything comes between them and their need to communicate effectively.

To succeed as the top telecommunication company, you must not only understand that the customers are the king, but you must also act in that line. Providing good quality services and efficient connectivity together with effective customer care, are the big secrets of the most successful telecommunication companies in the country.