@18, Globacom has eclipsed stakeholders, subscribers’ expectations

THOMAS IMONIKHE

THAT Globacom, which turns 18 years on August 29, has positively impacted the social and economic development of Nigeria in less than two decades of its existence is certainly not in doubt as both its subscribers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry have been unanimous on this fact.

The reasons also, are not far fetched and they include a rock solid foundation laid by its billionaire owner and chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. GCON, diligent, dedicated and hardworking management and staff with a sharp focus on delivering on the company’s corporate vision and mission statements as well as putting the customers first.

Therefore, its rapid growth so far, is not surprising and the successes recorded are very glaring going by the increasing number of subscribers and internet users. Statistics by the regulator of the telecommunications sector, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, indicated that Glo as the company is popularly called, topped the Internet users’ chart with a total number of 153,873,786 as at December 2020, thus posting the highest growth among the telecommunications operators, while its market share of Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM as at June 2021 stood at 54,840,192 out of total of 204, 228, 678 subscribers in the country.

Before then, Glo had dazzled the telecommunications sector when against all harsh operating environment confronting indigenous companies emerged the Most Popular Corporate Brand in Nigeria 2020 in a rating that also paraded some multinational corporations.

According to the ranking by Top 50 Brands Nigeria, a brand and marketing research firm, Glo garnered 89 percent mentions in the Top of the Mind (TOM) survey (a test of respondent’s knowledge, affinity and ability to recall brand names) which is no mean feat.

Significantly, the report placed the Nigerian telecommunications giant ahead of top contenders and other popular brands like MTN, GTBank, Dangote, Coca-Cola Nigeria, First Bank, UBA, amongst others in terms of popularity and acceptability.

“Top of the Mind brands are the most remembered or easily recalled brand names. They are the ones that get customers excited and participate in their marketing. This has earned them an increasing mind share over time” the firm stated, adding that more shocking is the fact that 78 percent of respondents chose Globacom as number one among the top 10 brands they could recall, (even though this wasn’t mentioned as a criterion during the poll).

But reacting to its emergence as the Brand Company of the year 2020, Mr. Charles Jenarius of Globacom said “Brand building is an art as well as a science. In Glo, we ensure that both these aspects receive equal importance and focus. And when this is practiced consistently and relentlessly, 365 days in a year, there is no limit to what heights can be scaled. It is both gratifying and fulfilling, for the team, that today Glo is being rated as the most popular brand in Nigeria

“It is a historical fact that Globacom, with many firsts in its years of operation introduced the per-second billing in Nigerian telecoms, allowing cheaper call rates and increased patronage, the first operator in Africa to launch 2.5G network which enabled the convergence of voice, data and multimedia technologies and the first to launch a nationwide 4G LTE network in 2016 among others”.

But the above attainments didn’t come happenstances. Upon its formal launch on August 29, 2003, Glofirst, had to subdue foundational challenges such as infrastructural deficit, excessive competition before implementing its vision and mission to radically transform the nation’s Information and Communications Technology, ICT for the overall benefits of subscribers, internet users and the country at large.

The motivation of both management and staff to be a leading player in the telecommunication space is contained in the company’s vision statement: “Building Africa’s biggest and best telecommunications network,” and equally an ambitious mission statement: “To be the largest, most successful entertainment, information and telecommunications solutions provider in Nigeria and Africa.”

As a matter of fact these were achievable over time going by the pedigree of the company’s Chairman, Otunba Adenuga whose business prowess and accomplishments in critical sectors of the economy including the oil and gas, has carved a niche to grow his businesses for them to be very viable, and dominates the sectors he operates. In other words, it was a matter of time for the then budding company to take its rightful place in the sector.

Consequently and with a bang, Globacom joined the telecommunication sector with astonishing innovation, The Per Second Billing, which the older networks falsely claimed was not possible before, thus making it the first network in Africa to introduce per-second billing platform to the admiration of the telephony public.

It is also on record that this singular revolution by the company instantly made it a household name in the country, gaining widespread acceptance and within nine months, made history again as the first network to amass a million subscribers in that space of time.

Therefore, it was crystal clear that Glo’s management and employees had imbibed one of notable counsels of Adenuga, ‘That to build a successful business, you must start small and dream big’ and that ‘in the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme’.

Indeed the telephony public cannot forget how the company soon engendered the crash in the cost of SIM Card from a hefty N25, 000 to N200 and reduced call tariff from N50 a minute to as low as five kobo per second which made owning such card and making calls affordable for most Nigerians. This master stroke triggered massive telephone penetration in the land as those who hitherto had no access to telephone services on account of high cost heaved a sigh of relief and were able to own handsets making telephony less stressful.

In fact, this feat was formally acknowledged by the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations, which declared that Glo played a critical role in the revolution recorded in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry.

It is on record that other notable innovations in which the company took the lead are its launch of the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), mobile banking, mobile Internet, vehicle tracking, prepaid roaming, in-flight roaming, Blackberry services, the 2.5G network which enabled the convergence of voice, data and multimedia technologies, the introduction of the 3G Plus technology and becoming the first operator to launch a nationwide 4G-LTE coverage in Nigeria, which enabled subscribers faster data transfer rates, unmatched mobile broadband experience, high data speeds and reliability.

But Globacom’s revolutionary contribution in boosting broadband connectivity in the country which entailed its building and launching of an $800 million high-capacity fibre-optic cable known as Glo-1, a submarine cable to Nigeria remains unmatched till date. It is also, the first time a company public or private would single-handedly implement such an expensive and gigantic undersea project in Africa.

The 9,800 kilometres long cable which originates from Bude in the United Kingdom, UK terminates at Alpha Beach in Lekki Lagos, where it has its Landing Station while its numerous socio-economic benefits include, to further enhance voice and data transmission for mobile and fixed telephone operations in the country, provides improved teleconferencing, distance learning, disaster recovery and telemedicine for Nigerians, the people of West Africa as well as providing the much-needed connectivity to vital sectors of the economy such as oil and gas, banking, manufacturing, commerce, education and health to add the needed impetus to the digital economy.

As a truly Nigerian brand, the company right from inception set out to promote and inculcate a sense of pride in every Nigerian with its stimulating signature phrase, “Glo with Pride” and “Rule your World” which substantially helped built confidence in Nigerians and drive brand loyalty greatly.

But the telecommunications giant also, has made its impact felt tremendously in virtually all spheres of human endeavours in countries it operates, Nigeria, Benin and Ghana including in sports, entertainment, arts, sponsorship of live English Premier League, EPL matches for football lovers to be able to watch all the 380 matches of the 2021/2022 season on Super sports. Its latest unique offering is the Glo TV application.

Significantly, the global viewing community cannot forget the company’s sole sponsorship of African Voices on the American Cable News Network, CNN designed to project game changers on the African continent and also promote the Globacom brand worldwide on CNN’s platform over the years.

It has also contributed massively to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) both in services and tax remittances to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and currently has about 4000 direct employees, thousands of jobs in indirect employment through the value chain – distributorship, suppliers of physical goods and services such as the building of network infrastructure, advertising and media.

However, despite several transformational innovations and cutting edge services of the telecommunications heavyweight, some of Glo’s loyal subscribers like Oliver Twist, are still demanding for more, increasing expansion to areas yet uncovered nationwide as well as further crash in data prices for Nigerians.

But stakeholders are confident that the current management team led by Mrs. Bella Disu, the Executive Vice Chairman, EVC of Globacom has the leadership acumen and right focus to continue to drive the company in the path of profitability, fulfill its mission statement and provide excellent services to the satisfaction of teeming customers now and in the future.

For a better society