When was nitel established

Econet now Airtel has been said to be the first telecommunication service to launch its services in Nigeria on August 8, , going head-to-head with MTN which also began operations in August of the same year. They were given renewable GSM licenses, which had a 5-year expiration date , and allowed them to operate within the MHz and MHz spectrum bands. Specific targets were set for the operators by the NCC. Some of the targets were a minimum of , subscribers each in the beginning year of operations, 1.

The goal was efficiency and NCC was committed to achieving a secure and efficient mobile network. One important feature of the initial era of the GSM was the prestige accorded to phone owners.

At that time, only the wealthy could own phone, as it cost N80, — N, and not many could afford it. The popular phone brands were Nokia, Sagem, and Samsung.

Registering a line was as costly as having a phone. Line registration was pegged at N40, to N50,, however phone billing rates were charged on the minute basis N50 per minute. Globacom , established by Mike Adenuga, brought per second billing as its unique offering. As of December , GLO had over 45 million subscribers, making it the second-largest network operator in Nigeria.

It introduced lower tariffs and other value-added services. It is the first successful submarine cable from the United Kingdom to Nigeria. It now provides services in cities and towns, more than 10, villages and communities and a growing number of highways across the country, spanning the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa.

As of March , Airtel had over 99 million subscribers in the continent. Arguably, it is suggested that divestiture amongst the numerous strategic initiatives is an option NITEL can explore. It is acknowledged that limitations within the paper might exist which may have impacted on the conclusion.

Third, it is also appreciated that it is difficult to effectively discuss the impact of a divestiture of NITEL without considering the significant changes in the use of telephony in Nigeria, i. Udechukwu Ojiako, G. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Report bugs here. It was a sad tale of enterprise gone awry. From that period NITEL was saddled with the sole responsibility of meeting the telecommunications needs of the Nigeria.

Regrettably, it was unable to meet the growing demand for telecommunications services by Nigerians. At independence, in , the country had only 18, telephone lines. Up until when the sector was deregulated NITEL could not expand the installed capacity beyond , lines, thus limiting access to information and communications technology ICT in Nigeria.

With such leverage, it was expected that MTEL would offer the best service and at most affordable cost to the consumers, as it had no need to build new infrastructures across the country, like the new GSM licensees were doing then. From that time, it became clear that the government could not run a telecom company successfully, especially, in the new competitive era where shrewd business men manage private telecom companies. The company appeared to have what it takes to turn around the fortunes of the sleeping giant.

Besides its international clout, it also had local backing. Thereafter, Pentascope of Netherlands was appointed the core investor to revamp the moribund telecoms firm. The attempt also failed. A management contract was signed with Pentascope, which cost the nation to lose money.

Between April and March , Pentascope had squandered a gain of N15 billion, which it inherited, to record a loss of N Turnover also dropped to N41 billion from N53 billion. Later, it was revealed that Pentascope, in the first instance, should not have been given such an assignment.

The tender for the contract clearly stated that a telecoms firm, with international standard, was needed. Later the Nigerian government revoked the deal with Pentascope to manage the company. There is general pessimism about whether the new owners can revive the company. The Nigerian telecom market has over 11 operators competing for customers, raising fears that the market might soon become saturated. The Nigerian telcom market has million subscribers and a market penetration of around 75 percent, according to a recent report by telecom research firm Buddecomm.

The country only has 67 million Internet users. Since NATCOM will also an ownership share in the SAT-3 international submarine cable system, it is expected that the new buyers will offer enhanced broadband data service.