Telecoms
Now in its 20th year, Globacom is defined by its matchless pace and incomparable milestones. Thriving on a peculiar strength of enterprise that subsists in its capacity to traverse unimaginable tracts in pursuit of phenomenal and unlikely payoffs, Lanre Alfred writes that the company does this with unrivalled finesse
Some call Globacom the fragrant African lily. Some call it the finest commercial tulip ever to sprout this side of the globe. Whatever the sobriquet graciously attached to it, Africa surely profits from its presence on the continent.
Founded by Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr, the company is widely celebrated for its capacity to surmount the odds; to shadow fortune and harness it, without losing sight of what’s important: the people.
Millions of Nigerians and Africans chattering on the Glo network’s ubiquitous SIM cards are, however, inadvertently reaping the benefits of the behemoth’s institutional savvy, ingenuity, tenacity, and both espoused and established sensitivity to their needs.
Ultimately, Globacom exploits the trenches of endeavour to create connections and sacred bonds among millions of customers within and outside the African continent. This is why it is widely adjudged Africa’s finest and most efficient network.
Champion of the Masses
Circa 2003, two years after the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) was rolled out in Nigeria, Nigerians had to part with between N20,000 and N25,000 just to buy a SIM card. But Globacom’s entry into the telecommunications sector in 2003, revolutionised the industry by flooding the market with the cheapest SIM cards thus empowering the Nigerian masses with what used to be the exclusive preserve of the elites.
And to further affirm its belief that profit must always be sought with human feeling, Glo shocked the entire telecoms sector and disrupted the prevalent culture of profiting, at the period, at the expense of the subscribers by crashing the price of SIM cards bringing it down from N25,000 to N500, and then, N100. Eventually, the Mike Adenuga-owned telecoms company moved on to distribute SIM cards free of charge to customers. In so doing, he made telephone services accessible to millions of Nigerians.
It would be recalled that prior to Globacom’s entry into the telecoms sector, the existing players claimed that Per Second Billing (PSB) was impossible till after five years. However, to the delight of millions of Nigerians groaning under the excruciating cost of per-minute billing, Globacom made the “impossible” possible by pioneering the per-second billing innovation.
The demystification of the SIM card acquisition and introduction of the per-second billing did not only lead to the exponential growth of Globacom’s customer base, but the innovative moves also ensured millions of Nigerians have access to telecommunications, a move which significantly boosted Nigeria’s economy.
And in its bid to empower the greatest number of Nigerians, Globacom cancelled the N50 per minute charge for calls by crashing the tariff to as low as one kobo (N0.10) per second.
The Trailblazer
The company is no doubt a trailblazer in launching a slew of futuristic products and services. For instance, it also recorded another milestone as the first network in Nigeria to launch the 2.5G GPRS technology thus enabling multimedia convergence. This made it possible for subscribers to share pictures, audio and video for the very first time in Nigeria.
Globacom facilitated international SMS connectivity to over 804 networks in 174 countries, BlackBerry solutions, international prepaid roaming, voice SMS, personal ringback tunes, and Magicplus – a comprehensive bouquet of SIM-based information services.
The network also pioneered Blackberry services which supported push-button email, mobile telephone and other wireless information services. And it was also the first to launch the 4G/LTE technology nationwide, which boosted ultra-fast and reliable data service on the network.
In line with its pan-African vision, Glo has also extended operations to the Benin Republic and Ghana with a footprint in other countries across the world.
While it established its footprint across the African telecommunications landscape, Globacom also sought to affirm its repute as an advocate of financial inclusion on the homefront. Following its remarkable foray into the financial services sector, the company has emerged as the third telecoms company to throw its hat in the Payment Service Bank ring with the launch of Globacom’s MoneyMaster PSB. This underlines its commitment to deepening financial inclusion in the country.
Advocate of Financial Inclusion
Prior to its financial inclusivity enture, Globacom had pioneered a lot of innovations in the Nigerian telecommunications sector including mobile banking; first to launch mobile internet service; pioneered vehicle tracking; first to Launch Prepaid Roaming and first to launch In-Flight Roaming.
The company stunned Africa as far back as 2010 when it launched the Glo 1 submarine cable, a 9,800-kilometre cable stretching from the United Kingdom across West Africa with landing points in Nigeria, London, and Lisbon, and connecting different countries to the rest of the world. It was launched to provide tonnes of terabytes of data per second to West Africa and many European cities. Glo became the first African telecoms company to solely build such international sub-marine cable. The launch of the Glo 1 cable was no doubt a game changer.
In addition to boosting the provision of services to telecoms end-users, the facility is currently providing much-needed connectivity to vital sectors of the economy such as oil and gas, manufacturing, banking, commerce, education, and health among others.
Glo was also the first to extend free access lines to government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs); and to address Africa’s bandwidth deficit, in order to provide enough capacity for the region thus consolidating its repute as a game-changer.
In recent years, Globacom has played a major role in the country’s march to a digital future by introducing a range of customised and community-driven voice and data connectivity solutions that help to manage complex networking systems. Globacom also provides secured as well as virtualised IT solutions such as e-health, smart cognitive learning, smart energy, industrial IoT, and cloud applications.
These solutions are particularly useful for collaborations, device management, workgroup storage, and information security among others. Its fixed connectivity and voice products such as Boost and Next Generation Bandwidth-on-Demand connectivity, SIP-based voice trunk, and telephony, further enhance the company’s capacity to deliver advanced connectivity and fixed voice solutions to medium and large enterprises, large wholesale carriers, and ISPs in Nigeria and Africa.
Glo is also a committed supporter of poverty reduction initiatives of the government. This has been exemplified through partnerships with various state governments, NDDC and NAPEP to provide call-centre packages for unemployed youths.
Pillar of Sports and Entertainment
In 20 years, Glo, aside from its enviable ventures in the telecoms sector, has equally made significant forays into the sports and entertainment industries thus emerging as the biggest promoter of entertainment and African football. Besides its direct financial commitments including massive sponsorships of sports and entertainment events, Globacom currently retains the largest number of key players in the entertainment industry as brand ambassadors while upholding that by actively engaging these key entertainment drivers. They, in turn, can help to grow the sector and the economy. Many entertainers, both established and unheralded, have been blessed immeasurably by this love and patronage.
Glo was the first telecom company to use Nollywood stars as brand ambassadors thus re-inventing and rehabilitating veteran theatre and silver screen stars. The company has asserted its purpose as a strong supporter of Nigerian music, comedy and acting.
Over a decade ago, Glo took over the full sponsorship of the CAF African Footballer of the Year awards. Around the same time, the telecoms giant signed a sponsorship agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), thus becoming the official telecommunications partner and major sponsor of Nigerian national teams. Alongside this, it sponsors the Supporters’ Club in any part of the world where any of Nigeria’s national teams is competing. For many years, it sponsored the Premier League, the Super Eagles and the NFF, as well as other national teams, the Supporters Club, Glo CAF Awards and Glo Soccer Academy, among others.
Supporter of Arts and Culture
The telecoms giant’s support for arts and culture cannot be underestimated either. Glo has made monumental contributions to arts and literature; its support of the Wole Soyinka Prize was globally applauded while its “Evening With WS” events remain the gold standard for literature sponsorship. With a well-defined brand strategy of supporting cultural festivals and initiatives, Glo has also emerged as the biggest corporate supporter of Nigerian arts and culture with its sponsorship of the Ojude Oba, Lisabi, and Ofala festivals, among others.
And thanks to Glo, the Alliance Française committed to promoting French culture and teaching French as a second language around the world, now has a more befitting building in a choice area of Lagos. Since it was declared open to the public in April 2018, the centre, aptly named the Mike Adenuga Centre, has been attracting commendations from far and near, from artists, art aficionados and eminent Nigerians.
Like a colossus that has empowerment encoded in its corporate DNA, Globacom continues to initiate and implement people-oriented programmes and promotions that impact Nigerians positively.
A Multiplex of Efficiency
Globacom network is also the most experienced and competent workforce with years of experience in managing the complexities of Rollout, Integration and Operation of a Multivendor network with its own employee, unlike others who rely on managed services.
Bolstered by its huge strength and capacity, Globacom has demonstrated that it is strategically positioned to dominate the telecoms environment in terms of infrastructural investment, limitless capacity and reach to its customers in Africa and beyond.
These facts among others distinguish the Globacom network from its peers and cutthroat rivals. The network’s merit lies in its capacity to make forays where none of its peers and rivals would dare venture.
