Nigeria’s fully integrated telecommunications company, Globacom, has been listed as one of the agents of the revolution that transformed the Nigerian telecoms sector.
Globacom and its chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr. were given unique prominence in a list of 100 heroes of Nigeria’s telecom in a new publication by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
The book was formally unveiled in Lagos on Friday at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki.
The launch of the publication which was chaired by Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, former Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), also has in attendance Chief Adebayo Shittu, Minister of Communications Technology, who was the Special Guest of Honour.
The publication noted that Globacom had pioneered a series of innovations that have helped to transform the nation’s telecommunications sector extensively, adding that one of the most impactful feats performed by Globacom was the introduction of per second billing (PSB) in Nigeria at inception.
PSB made it possible for Nigerians to get unprecedented value for money by paying only for the exact time spent on calls.
It also added that Globacom facilitated telephone penetration nationwide through hundred percent reduction of GSM SIM price from N20,000 to N200 and crashing of call tariff from N50 to 5kobo.
In addition, the publication also listed several products pioneered by Globacom. They included Blackberry, vehicle tracking, mobile internet, mobile banking, multimedia messaging service (MMS), in-flight roaming services, voice SMS, Magic Plus and Text2email.
Also noted was Globacom‘sGlo 1,the first wholly-owned submarine cable, a high capacity opticfibre cable which brings direct connectivity between West Africa, the UK and the rest of the world. The 9,800 km-long cable which provides excess bandwidth to all the cities connected to it ensures the availability of bandwidth to enterprise customers in West Africa and beyond.
In continuation of Globacom’s giant strides in the nation’s telecoms industry, it recently laid foundation of Glo 2 sub marine cable, another landmark which on completion will be the first submarine cable in Nigeria to terminate outside Lagos, thus providing enough bandwidth to communities in the southern part of the country, especially the oil platforms.