MTN Nigeria as a big brand in the Nigerian telecommunication industry has sufficiently demonstrated how telephony can assist businesses grow, not just from voice calls or SMS, but by application of other products. With its desire to support government’s effort to grow e-commerce, and SMEs across Nigeria, MTN Nigeria has invested over $120 million in infrastructural backbone in the telecom sector. In its drive to leapfrog the Nigerian economy to become the 12th largest economy in the world, the government needs to support these initiatives writes Daniel Obi…
To a common consumer, it is really amazing how telephony has exponentially grown and expanded within 14 years. The present behavior of telephony
in Nigeria was far beyond its earlier concept by ordinary users as a voice call and in some cases SMS. But as months and years go by, Nigerians are coming to grips that telephony described as “technology associated with the electronic transmission of voice, fax, or other information between distant parties using systems historically associated with the telephone”.
Telecommunication scope is widening than it was in the past. The industry today, analysts say includes software-based applications with a communication emphasis and intermediate layers of software incorporated into end-to-end communication services.
Some of the telecommunication firms in Nigeria have understood this global trend and are also driving the widening scope with various applications
and products to improve customer experience, businesses and the economy. MTN for instance, has engaged in ground breaking initiatives and unique
service offerings that defined the growth of the sector while being beneficial to customers and Nigerian economy.
Leveraging its mobile technology, MTN which came into Nigeria in May 2001, after acquiring license at $285m, today offers some products that support business growth in the areas of e-commerce, e-banking and SMEs, thus its overall contributions to the Nigeria economy.
Opeyemi Agbaje, a renowned Economist and Financial analyst agreed that “In Nigeria, MTN has literally over the past decade and a half, a goose that lays golden eggs!
The organization has between inception and 2014 paid reportedly over N1.3 trillion in various taxes to government; it is responsible for about 5% of all
taxes and 11% of non-oil taxes paid in Nigeria. In addition, the company pays N4billion every quarter in regulatory charges to the telecommunications regulator, amounting to N16billion every year! The telecommunications sector, since 2001 when the digital mobile license auctions were carried out, has been Nigeria’s star non-oil economy, growing from less than 1% of national GDP to approximately 10% of national GDP (that’s the information and communication sector, in which telecommunications is overwhelmingly dominant) and MTN has accounted for roughly half of that sector”.
For instance, MTN Business, a solution that seeks to be a reliable and dependable supplier of business communication solutions to the Nigeria enterprise market has contributed significantly to these developments.
Offering a suite of Voice, Internet, Data and Branch Connectivity Solutions, MTN Business currently serves a teeming number of corporate and public
sector organisations across industries.
However, projecting into the prospect of an all inclusive telecommunication environment that requires a very strong backbone, MTN Nigeria in 2003 commissioned a digital transmission project to address the yearnings of the sector in Nigeria.
According to Amina Oyagbola, Corporate Service Executive, MTN Nigeria, the investment in the critical infrastructure was deliberate to meet the needs of Nigerians across voice and digital space.
“In January 2003, we commissioned the first phase of our digital microwave transmission backbone, Y’ello Bahn.
Constructed at an initial cost of $120 million, the first phase of Y’ello Bahn spanned 3,500 km. The second phase which started in July 2003 extended the project to cover a total of 4,500 km. The length of the entire digital microwave transmission backbone currently stands at 11, 400km. This interconnects with Cameroun in Borno and Cross Rivers States and with Niger Republic in Sokoto State. In terms of distance and capacity, this makes the Y’ello Bahn Africa’s most extensive digital transmission infrastructure which has significantly contributed to enhancing call quality on the MTN network” Oyagbola said.
With continuous extensive investment in infrastructure and a focus on innovation, MTN Business is able to deploy new and flexible services and solutions tailor-made to address customers’ peculiar business communication needs. MTN Business continues to work with various partners to design
and deploy solutions that are both affordable yet innovative meeting the need of the Nigerian small business enterprise.
In this regard, Oyagbola informed that “in 2010, MTN Nigeria (in partnership with Ericsson) commissioned the largest network switch centre in the
world, capable of handling calls from up to 8 million subscribers at a time. The MTN network is coordinated from 117 switches spread across the country.”
No doubt, this massive investment in telecommunication infrastructure has been the mainstay on the various solutions deployed to boost e-commerce, e-business and SMEs’ operations in Nigeria.
One of the enabled solutions is the MTN conference call that enables up to 20 people to engage in a phone conversation from anywhere and from any network in the world. This is achieved by dialing into central number and entering a predefined Pin. MTN Call Conference makes it possible for
companies, business, people, academics, and professionals etc, to hold secure multiparty conversations over the phone without the need to travel.
“Most traditional conferencing services require the caller initiating the conference call to bear the cost of all other callers but with MTN Conference Call, each calling party simply bears the cost of his/her call. The Conference Call is applicable to both small and large organisations alike that need their people to hold important meetings, follow up with projects etc over the phone and from anywhere.
This reduces business cost – as the need to travel for meetings can be eliminated” Oyagbola said.
Meanwhile, across the small and medium enterprises, the MTN SME Data Share has helped firms manage reasonably the data use among their staff for sustainability. The product allows business owners to buy data bundles and share with their staff. Specifically designed for growing businesses, the product allows for a centrally manage internet usage per staff across their businesses.
“We are determined to enable the Nigerian $520 billion economy further grow. MTN understands the role of SMEs to achieve this and that is why we
rolled out the MTN SME Data Share. This product provides customers with better pricing which introduces lower cost on-net GSM Voice, Data and
SMS bundles targeted primarily for the SMEs. Thus, it allows businesses to make more calls, download more data and send more SMS at remarkably reduced prices.” Oyagbola further explained.
Recently, during the launch of MTN Biz Grow, to herald the partnership of MTN Nigeria with LAPO Microfinance Bank, ‘Tsola Barrow, Sales and Distribution Executive, MTN Nigeria said the partnership is a demonstration of MTN Nigeria’s commitment to engage, empower and expand the businesses of MTN retailers across Nigeria.
The ‘MTN BizGrow’ initiative is a credit product primarily designed to meet the funding needs of MTN retailers.
“The MTN-LAPO partnership will provide funds to MTN retailers in order for them to boost their sales. Credit Loans of N50, 000 to N100, 000 are advanced to selected or qualified retailers, with no tangible collateral required. This initiative will strengthen MTN Nigeria’s position as a critical agent for economic development” Barrow explained.
Godwin Ehigiamusoe, Managing Director, LAPO Microfinance Bank, agreed with the visions when he said that “we needed to align with the aspiration
of the CBN to ensure that the people operating at the lower cadre of the economy – micro, small and medium enterprises have access to finance. At the moment, we have accessed N200 million from the fund and we hope that as we recruit more people especially for this product with the MTN, we will be able to go up”.
Much as it is important to grow businesses, MTN at the same time thinks about protecting the businesses from unforeseen occurrences that may threaten them. The MTN Y’ello Biz as a bi-product of telephony was created as an insurance policy to cover and protect businesses. The product offered in collaboration with and insurance company, gives business subscribers up to about N1 million insurance cover for their businesses in the event of fire, flood or any other risk covered in the plan chosen by the subscriber.
In a culture where insurance is perceived as complex and hard to understand, protecting businesses has been made easy by simply owning a phone line.
To encourage more foreign investment to drive the Nigeria economy, analysts have advocated government support for the existing ones to be demonstrated in terms of policies and regulations that creates a conducive atmosphere for businesses.
As a country in a hurry to develop and equal its peers, Nigerian government should partner and support organisations that have shown interest in the development of Nigerian economy so they can do more.
According to Ayo Teriba, CEO, Economic Associates and visiting Scholar at the IMF Research Department in Washington DC, such goodwill on the part of the government will only send the right signals to investors
