The Nigerian government has decided that the country’s GSM network operators will not be allowed to buy the mobile assets of state-owned NITEL when it is eventually privatized. Although the government was originally looking to sell the company as a single entity, the government has now agreed to split the company into its component divisions and sell them separately.
Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Christopher Anyanwu, said that the decision was based on the advice of the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The four GSM networks, MTN, Etisalat, Zain, and Globacom will be allowed to bid for NITEL’s land line assets, although Glo will only be allowed to bid for the CDMA and international gateway assets and licenses as it already holds a land line license. Read the rest of this entry »
Globacom Limited, Nigeria’s second national operator (SNO) has its eyes on Aircom, a GSM licensee in Cote d‘Ivoire in a bid to advance its plan to enter Cote d’Ivoire’s mobile telephony market. According to a report in Nigeria’s Technology Times, Globacom may have opened talks with Aircom in a bid to enter the market anytime soon but details are still very hazy for now.
Etisalat Nigeria, the country’s newest GSM mobile network operator, has announced that it has passed the one million subscriber mark – less than nine months after the company launched its services in Nigeria.
Mobile operator, Zain, and Ericsson have entered a five-year strategic managed services agreement under which Ericsson will operate Zain’s nationwide GSM/WCDMA networks in Nigeria. Under the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for the network operations, field operations, including optimisation, third-party vendor management for Zain’s GSM/WCDMA networks, and business support systems.
Lars Lindén, President, Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa, says the agreement will deliver significant financial and operational efficiencies for Zain over the five-year term. “Managed services is one of the fastest-growing areas in telecoms and Nigeria is demonstrating strong growth and increased levels of investment and competition,” he says. “The synergies between the two companies will ensure best-in-class network stability and market support.” 
