MTN Nigeria set to launch
3G network by 2006
By Shina Badaru, Technology Times
Monday, July 4, 2005
MTN has hinted of plans to roll out third-generation (3G)
network in Nigeria by 2006 as it unveiled the broadband service
last Tuesday in Johannesburg, South African.
MTN, which said its Nigerian operations are billed for the
3G rollout at an undisclosed date, next year, trails rival,
Vodacom’s 3G service, which went live with the same
service in South Africa, six months ago.
In South Africa, the keen battle for the subscriber’s
pocket has heated up as the two operators target users signing
up for 3G service which enables mobile phones to surf the
Internet, download music and films and make video calls.
The South African operator which said it has spent some 500
million rand hoped to rise to 1.5 billion, if an estimated
half a million users it expects, will sign up for the service
in the first year.
The South African MTN Group said it is bringing broadband
to the Nigerian market where it faces growing competition
from Vmobile and second national operator, Globacom, which
operates a 2.5G service that supports GPRS which delivers
fast data speed, but lacks support for video calls.
Chief Technology Officer, (CTO) MTN SA, Karel Pienaar, said
that additional investment in 3G service in South Africa is
tied to uptake.
Pienaar, former CEO, MTN Nigeria, hinted that Nigeria is next
in line by 2006 for the rollout of 3G services outside South
Africa, to be possibly followed by Uganda, Cameroon and Swaziland,
where it operates. The operator is expecting that limited
Internet penetration across the continent opens up opportunity
for rapid subscription to 3G services like has been witnessed
with voice.
MTN ambitiously expects to sign up 500,000 customers by offering
video calls free for the first three months of launch. Afterwards,
users will pay 2 rand a minute on contract and 3 rand a minute
on pre-paid packages respectively, for the service. MTN is
charging same rate for voice and data on the 3G network for
calls made on its GPRS network.
While Vodacom had adopted the strategy to gain a market foothold
before the entry of the MTN broadband service, the latter
plans to offer existing contract customers a free upgrade
to 3G by supplying new SIM cards for their handsets, and top-end
users will get a free 3G phone at their next upgrade, reports
said.
(Courtesy: Shina Badaru, Technology Times)
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