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Tag: Etisalat

  • Etisalat, Creative Focus Africa empower entrepreneurs

    The Fifth Creative Focus will hold next Monday at the Havillah Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    It is being held in partnership with Etisalat.

    This year’s edition titled: Creative Focus – The challenge would showcase and promote young  entrepreneurs in the interior design, architecture and landscape, publishing industry, photography and arts, food and beverage, agriculture, fashion design and accessories, lifestyle products, graphic design, website and blog development and beauty and hair care sectors of the economy.

    Also, a new campaign #WetinBeYourNumber aimed at youth and small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) empowerment would be launched on social media.

    Etisalat has been a major supporter of small and medium enterprise in Nigeria, empowering more than 100 businesses in Nigeria with its Easybusiness Millionaires Hunt where no fewer than 10 winners got N2million each in grants and more than 50 others trained at the Enterprise Development Centre of the Lagos Business School on how to take their businesses to the next level.

    The exhibition is a yearly event that aims at showcasing and growing creative and innovative businesses in Nigeria to provide a viable platform for SMEs to thrive and to set the economy in the right direction.

    This year’s exhibition is expected to attract about five million applications out of which the 50 most inspiring SMEs would be selected from across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria before 10 winners.

  • Etisalat’s Innovation Prize finalists emerge

    Etisalat’s Innovation Prize finalists emerge

    Etisalat Nigeria has announced the finalists for the 2014 Pan-African Prize for innovation, which will shine the light on creativity in the African Broadband space. Memmcol Interactive media interface design and MAMALET emerged finalists for the Most Innovative Idea category, while Exam Mate and Akpos Jokes emerged finalists of Most Innovative Product/Service category of the Prize.

    The competition which is currently in its third year received entries from about 10 countries across the African continent.

    Announcing the finalists, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria and member of the Board of Innovators of the Prize, Matthew Willsher said: “Broadband is constantly revolutionizing the way we solve problems at the individual, community, business, and societal levels. There is also a growing evidence of the importance of broadband to job creation, productivity, economic growth, and social inclusion. The judging panel were pleased with the quality of entries and were impressed by the creativity of the submissions.”

    The Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation featured a high-level judging panel made up of the following: Founder/CEO of Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori; Managing Director of Kitskoo Limited, Babatunde Fafunwa; Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Rancard Solutions, Ehizogie Binitie; Entrepreneur/Consultant, Henrik Palsson and Chief Information Officer at Etisalat Nigeria, Otuyemi Otule.

    Winners from each category will be announced at the AfricaCom Awards gala dinner in Cape Town, South Africa, on the 12th of November.

    Launched in 2012, the Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation is aimed at encouraging and celebrating valuable innovative ideas and products in the African market and drive the use of mobile broadband. The first prize of $25, 000 is for the Most Innovative Product or Service launched in the last 12 months and a second prize of $10,000 for the Most Innovative Idea.

     

     

     

  • EasyBusiness Millionaires Hunt winners praise Etisalat

    Winners of the 2013 edition of the Etisalat Easybusiness Millionaires Hunt initiative recently paid a courtesy visit to the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher and used the opportunity to praise the telecommunications company for the impact the initiative has had on their businesses.

    The visit at the company’s head office saw three of the10 entrepreneurs adjudged to have exceptional business ideas share insights on how emerging winners of the inaugural edition have helped them actualise their goals. According to them, the two million naira cash won in the competition meant they were optimally equipped financially while the training at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos helped them build better business models and gain more traction in their various operational markets.

    Receiving the delegation, Willsher expressed delight at the progress each of the winners had made with their businesses. He noted that the initiative did not only give them the desired capital they needed to take their businesses to the next level but gave them fresh and innovative perspectives.

    “We are delighted to hear your success stories and see the growth you have recorded in the past six months”, said Willsher. He reiterated the company’s long term commitment to supporting small and growing enterprises with a view to helping them develop into strong businesses that impact on the nation’s economy.

  • Etisalat partners Samsung, Tecno, others on smartphone offer

    Etisalat Nigeria has announced a partnership with mobile phone manufacturers Samsung Mobile, Tecno Mobile and others to deliver the biggest Smartphone offer in the telecoms industry.

    The deal would see Etisalat customers become proud owners of trendy 3G Smartphone devices of their choice from as low as N7,000.

    Its Director, Consumer Segments Etisalat, Oluwole Rawa, said: “With the rising demand for internet consumption in Nigeria, especially on Etisalat’s Easyblaze, it became necessary that we partner with mobile phone manufacturers to deliver Smartphone devices with internet access at affordable prices to people who wish to own one.”

    He continued: “Depending on the type of device customers purchase, they can get as much as 1.5GB free data from Etisalat when they buy from any Etisalat Experience center or partner  stores nationwide.”

    He said as part of the offer “customers also get a whopping 100 per cent bonus data for 12 months on any data plan purchased between 200MB and 6GB”.

  • Etisalat announces judges for African innovation prize

    Etisalat announces judges for African innovation prize

    Etisalat Nigeria has assembled a strong judging panel for the Pan-African Prize for Innovation.

    The judges are Founder/CEO of Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori; Managing Director of Kitskoo Limited, Babatunde Fafunwa; Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Rancard Solutions, Ehizogie Binitie; Entrepreneur/Consultant, Henrik Palsson and Chief Information Officer at Etisalat Nigeria, Otuyemi Otule.

    A board of innovators comprising CEO of Main One telecommunications solutions provider, Funke Opeke; Vice President Commerce at Etisalat Group, George Held and Chief Executive Officer at Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher has also been established to complement the panel of judges.

    Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher said: “The thinking behind the ‘Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation’ is to encourage and celebrate valuable innovation for driving or facilitating mobile broadband use in the Africa market. Having some of these notable professionals in their different fields as judges and custodians of the prize will further encourage and reward corporate organisations; small and growing businesses as well as individuals who are constantly contributing to the development of mobile broadband solutions and platforms in Africa. Entrants can be assured a critical assessment of their products/ideas, and our winning entries will represent the very best”.

    Each year, finalists demonstrate fresh thinking and bold technology integration, pushing the boundaries of possibilities in this constantly evolving broadband arena. Finalists will attend the Seventh AfricaCom awards taking place in CapeTown, South Africa in November.

    Launched in 2012, the Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation is aimed at encouraging and celebrating valuable innovative ideas and products in the African market and drive the use of mobile broadband.

    The first prize of $25, 000 is for the most innovative product or service launched in the last 12 months and a second prize of $10,000 for the most innovative idea.

  • Etisalat: Nigeria mustn’t miss digital switch over deadline

    Etisalat: Nigeria mustn’t miss digital switch over deadline

    Etisalat Nigeria has warned against missing the digital switch over (DSO) date set by the International Tele-communications Union (ITU). The firm said it would not be in Nigeria’s interest.

    The ITU has set next year for all member-countries to switch off all analogue transmission infrastructure and move over to the digital mode.

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is on the vanguard of complying with the directive. It said it would achieve DSO before the year ends to enable it tighten loose ends ahead of the deadline.

    Etisalat’s Director, Network Engineering Temi Ogunbanbi said if the country fails to achieve DSO, it will not only become a dumping ground for analogue transmitters, it will also make the country uncompetitive  internationaly.

    Speaking during an interactive session with ICT editors in Lagos, he said the spectrum that would be freed by the NBC to the Nigerian Comunication Commission NCC) will be of great value to the telecoms sector, lamenting that the dearth of spectrum has not allowed the telco to deploy more advanced technology.

    He said the telco has invested enormously to grow the network to achieve the excellent services it is rendering to the customers despite the challenges in the sector, where power supply is erratic and vandalism of telecoms infrastructure rampart.

    He said IHS, which bought its “passive towers”, has promised to deploy alternative energy sources to low operating cost, especially the cost of fuelling generators at base transmission stations (BTS).

    Speaking on the achievements of the telco, its Chief Executive Officer, Mathew Willsher, said it has grown its subscribers’ strength, adding that the future is bright for the telco as the NCC intensifies efforts at ensuring a level playing field for all players.

    “We have acquired 20 per cent more customers. We are just 19.5million customers, which up from 15.3 million same time last year; that’s very good growth our proportion of the market is now 15 per cent , so over the last six years, we have grown our business and establish as a major player in the market. We are very encouraged by the growth.

    “Of course, it is a company that was built on great customer experience, we are leaders in customer satisfaction, but it is very important that we continue to do so though with new customers, there will be increasing demand and increasing pressure on the network.

    “We are not standing still; we are investing and of course expanding capacity so that we can remain leader in their minds for their experience and remain leader indeed in the industry’s mind as we already are for network quality recognised by the NCC.”

  • Etisalat hosts students in soccer fiesta

    Etisalat hosts students in soccer fiesta

    Mobile telephone network giant, Etisalat Nigeria, have thrilled students of the University of Ibadan (UI) in a soccer fiesta organised to hunt football talents on the campus.

    Four teams participated in the football contest, which involved male and female students from different Halls of Residence.

    Blue Team of the Nnamdi Azikwe Hall defeated White Team from the same hall by lone goal and moved to final stage of the contest. Also, Black Team from Mellanby Hall thrashed Green Team of the Independence Hall by two goals.

    The Green Team and White Team battled for third place, which ended goalless. However, the White Team beat its opponent in a penalty shootout.

    Blue Team emerged the winner of the competition after it trounced the Black Team by a lone goal in the final match.

    Etisalat Nigeria rewarded first, second and third positions winners with medals, branded shirts and mobile phones. They were also presented with trophies while the fourth position team got shirt and food saver.

    The Sports Secretary of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Opeyemi Akindele, who coordinated the contest, praised the mobile network firm for the sponsorship of the competition, which, he said, was to bring out talent of students in football. He urged other telecommunication firms to replicate the gesture by reaching out to students and youths through sport.

  • Etisalat warns against overregulation in telecoms industry

    Etisalat warns against overregulation in telecoms industry

    Etisalat Nigeria has warned against over  regulating the telecoms sector, arguing that it may be counter-productive.

    An official of the telco, Tosin Bamidele, who spoke in Lagos at the weekend during the interactive session organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Value Added Services Providers (VASPs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), said the regulator should be careful to avoid overregulating the  sector.

    Bamidele spoke against the background that the regulator had taken away short codes allocation from the MNOs.

    While commending the regulator for its efforts at stabilising the indutry, he called for the expansion of the industry working group, adding that not all the heads of the regulatory departments of the MNOs were represented in the body.

    According to him, the allocation of and use of short codes used to be at the discretion of the MNOs, adding that overregulating the sector will do more harm than good to the industry.

    Earlier, Head, Technical Standard & Network Integrity at the NCC, Haru Alhassan, said henceforth, any MNO assigned short code must put it to use while unused ones will be retrieved and put into the basket. He added that the regulator was exploring  a way of making a uniform short code available for MNOs, especially the ones that address similar issue for the subscribers so that when a subscriber ports to another network, such a subscriber will not be bogged down with committing many short codes into memory.

    Represented by Edoga, he said a central data base would soon be built to avoid chaos and bring about clarity.

    According to statistics, the mobile VAS market in the country is worth over $200 million yearly with the potential to hit $500 million in the next five years.

    However, NCC said its findings showed that the exponential growth in the industry in the last 12 years has given rise to the evolution of mobile phone from being just a device to support communications requirement to a smart platform with the capacity to provide several services hitherto unimagined.

    Mobile entertainment, caller-tune, ring-back tunes, music download, news breaks, Biblical and inspirational quotes, flights information, tele-marketing, among others are some of the services provided by VASP.

    Stakeholders are worried about the activities of ‘data miners’ and network hackers who are threatening the  VASPs and MNOs that have seen mobile VAS as consolation to the dwindling average revenue per user (ARPU) in the voice services segment owing to increased competition.

    The NCC expressed concerns that some of the operators were operating outside the basic guidelines spelt out, adding that the development called for stricter regulatory framework.

    Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah lamented that there were “some practices and behaviours in the VAS segment which as individual subscribers and as industry regulator have given us a lots of concern.

    “We have witnessed high level of tele-marketing, especially unsolicited messages by mobile network operators/value added service operators soliciting subscription for their services most times constituting nuisance to consumers.”

    He said the Commission deemed it necessary to have an interactive session with the VASP, MNOs and other critical stakeholders to identify ways of tackling the challenges in the sub-sector.

    Head, Compliance and Enforcement Department at the NCC, Mr. Efosa Idehen,  said  participatory regulation has become entrenched in their corporate culture, as a means of soliciting industry response to the multi-various industry challenges.

    Said Efosa:“This is to ensure that whatever policies and regulations we come up with, will enjoy wide acceptance within the industry.”

  • Etisalat launches products for kids

    One of the leading telecommunication companies in Nigeria, Etisalat, has introduced a unique educational and children-friendly product for children ages between 8 and 15 years in Nigeria tagged: Cliqlite.

    “Cliqlite is a revolutionary product in Nigeria; it comes with pre-installed educational content that allows children to have access to a world of learning possibilities.

    It was launched at the Oriental Hotel Lagos. It brought together hundreds of students from across Nigeria which feature comedy, dance, seminar and presentation of the new brand “Cliqlite”.

    In his welcome address, Chief Commercial Officer and Acting CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher, said that Etisalat is driven by a sustained commitment to enriching customer experience. Innovation remains part of our DNA and we believe technology has the potential to revolutionise learning.

    Willsher said: “Children have an insatiable appetite for technology and innovation, worldwide a significant number of online users are under the age of 18, it is therefore our responsibility as parents to make sure our future generation is equipped with the right tools to successfully harness and hone their burgeoning potential.

    “Cliqlite is a revolutionary product in Nigeria; it comes with pre-installed educational content that allows children to have access to a world of learning possibilities. Educational websites such as passnownow, mindset, JAMB, WAEC are accessible even without an active data connection”, he said.

    He said further: “It features free data weekly plus access to seven websites, five educational, one game site and one social website. Free credit on your birthday, 14 NERDC textbooks SSCE current syllabus preload on the Cliqlite tab and interactive lessons and Norton parental control app to enable parents/guardians monitor online activities of their children/wards.“

    Director, Consumer Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Oluwole Rawa noted that Etisalat’s Cliqlite was especially designed with parents and children in mind, one of the innovations that came out of this customer centric approach are the important security features which assure parents that their children are safe and only interact with appropriate content while browsing the internet.

    Rawa said: “Parents can also worry less about what information their children are exposed to when they are given an internet enabled device like the Cliqlite tablet or Cliqlite phone because of the level of parental control that comes with these devices.”

  • Etisalat rewards customers with trip to Brazil

    Etisalat rewards customers with trip to Brazil

    Etisalat Nigeria recently rewarded some customers with a 7-day all expenses paid holiday to Brazil during the just concluded 2014 FIFA World Cup football competition under the Company’s ‘Going the Extra Mile’ [GEM] programme.

    The trip is part of the company’s customer loyalty proposition for high values customers to improve their experience on the network.

    Speaking on the company’s rationale for this reward, Director, Consumer Marketing Segment at Etisalat Nigeria, Oluwole Rawa said, “Our customer loyalty program, Etisalat GEM reflects our continuous drive to provide our customers with the best experience on the network. Etisalat is always Going the Extra Mile (GEM) to reward its customers and help them achieve their dreams. The trip to Brazil is one aspect of our GEM initiative to delight our loyal high value customers. Mr Oniwon’s testimony is a demonstration that Etisalat rewards customers for being part of its network”.

    For Abuja based GEM customer, Job Oniwon, the trip was a dream come true courtesy of Etisalat Nigeria.

    He said, “Prior to Etisalat’s decision to send me to the Samba country, I had always dreamt of watching the World Cup live but I never knew Etisalat would make my dream come true. I count myself lucky to have benefited from Etisalat’s sponsorship.  I enjoyed every moment of the trip to Brazil. My most memorable moment while in Brazil was the day I watched the Nigeria-Argentina match live at Porto Alegre. It was scintillating and very exciting. Equally fascinating was my visit to Santos City, precisely Museu Pele (Pele’s Museum). The historical sporting archive in the museum remains engraved in my memory.’

    An elated Oniwon expressed gratitude to Etisalat for taking him to Brazil and giving him what he described as ‘a first-class treat’.

    In just 5 years of operations, Etisalat Nigeria has become a major industry player with a growing subscriber base of 19 million in a highly competitive market. Its portfolio of voice and data-centric products include  easy starter, easycliq, easybusiness, and easyblaze; all tailor-made to meet the needs of its customers.

    Etisalat Nigeria is one of the 15 operations of the Etisalat Group that spans across Africa, Middle East and Asia serving over 150 million subscribers; and it is committed to delivering innovative and quality services to its growing subscribers.