Nigeria’s most innovative telecommunications company Etisalat has reaffirmed its commitment to the delivery of quality services to its over 12 million subscribers in the country.

Steven Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria said the company in its over three years of rendering quality telecommunications services in the country has invested over two billion dollars in building and expanding its network and will continue to invest in upgrading and expanding its network and capacity in order to meet the communications need of its customers.

Reacting to the recent sanction issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission to all GSM operators and the fine averaged at $2m per operator imposed for non-compliance with the Quality of Service targets set by the Regulator, the NCC for the months of March and April 2012, Evans explained that since its commercial launch in October 2008 has been recognized as being the number one quality operator as proven by the various measures conducted and published by the regulator during the last 3 years.

He said, “This year alone we are investing more than half a billion dollars in expansion of our network capabilities and capacity and this expansion which is currently in progress will reflect positively on the quality of our network”.

He further explained that the failure to hit some of the quality measures could not be attributed alone to capacity expansion but also by other factors which represent industry-wide challenges. Foremost amongst these is the absence of reliable power which necessitates that every one of over 3000 cell sites needs to be served by two generators which run 24 hours a day and need regular maintenance and provision of weekly supplies of diesel. Allied to this challenge is the regular damage and cuts to the fiber networks due to roadwork’s and in some cases sabotage. These factors are unique to the operating environment in Nigeria and pose a tough challenge for operators to deliver quality of service levels equal to that of other countries. What we would like to see is the declaration of the Telecommunications Industry as Critical National Infrastructure which would afford the industry and its facilities greater protection.

“We would like to re-iterate our commitment to delivering quality telecom services to Nigeria and to all our customers and we will not relent in our quest to remain number one in terms of Quality,” he concluded.

As the late entrant to the market in 2007, Etisalat Nigeria has earned the reputation of being the most innovative telecommunications company in Nigeria and has led the move to decrease the cost of services and to deliver materially improved levels of network quality.

Source: Press Release