That title “The Stunning Decline of Globacom by Techcabal,’ a calculated vendetta
This title, “The Stunning Decline of Globacom, Nigeria’s Third Biggest Telco, published by a blogger company, Techcabal on November 12, 2024, is nothing but a calculated vendetta design for pecuniary gain.
I have taken time to meticulously and painstakingly read the work line after line and came to the conclusion that the findings of the online publication was not only a vendetta but a premeditated and deliberate witch-hunt.
Let us begin to deconstruct the piece by stating the obvious that the economic challenges facing the country today as orchestrated by policy summersault, hard policies of the present administration, is an evil wind that blows no one any good. All the Telecoms companies in Nigeria, and indeed businesses, are facing one challenge of the other.
It is on record and we all know how some of the so-call bigger telecoms companies in Nigeria are surviving, playing against the rules of engagements, through illegal deductions from subscribers’ data and airtime in order for them to remain in business. But if truth be told, Globacom is not known for such underhand practices being a wholly indigenous and consumer centric company. They are not in business to reap off their own people. Therefore to single out Globacom for negative write-up is an utter irresponsibility, arrant nonsense, comical, witch-hunt, malice, journalistic rascality and all the more a saddening professional incompetence and incapacity.
For more than a decade running Globacom remains the data grandmaster, remaining on top as the most subscribed data network in Nigeria and third in voice subscription. Attributing Change in leadership as a sign of a failed entity is funny. Change of leadership is a normal corporate phenomenon, which more often than not could be attributable to clear corporate and administrative target aimed at moving a company to another level. It could also be as a result of end of a tenure, it could also be at the instance of the top executive to throw in the towel based on reasons known to him which could be health, further studies, pursuit of higher education or any other reason which unfortunately some writers latch on and gave it as reason that company is going down.
Another very funny issue raised by the idle writer was the issue of the country’s teledensity which he said was inflated. Is it by Globacom? “Speculation has mounted for years that Nigeria’s telecom subscriber numbers, 217 million in early 2024, were inflated.” How is this Globacom’s business? Nigeria’s regulatory authorities in all intents and purposes should be able at every point in time tell Nigerians the number of subscribers that make up Nigeria’s teledensity and not gaze work.
We also picked hole in the following lines, “A recent audit and the rule that establishing 90 days of inactivity as the clear baseline by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has helped clarify issues. Due to those new rules, Globacom was required to recount its active subscriber base, shedding 40 million subscribers who were inactive in the last 90 days. While competitors MTN and Airtel also shed a few million active subscribers, they’re now the clear market leaders with 78 million and 53.7 million active subscribers, respectively.” If you are not on wild goose chase and corporate image smearing vendetta, why did the writer not mention the number of non-active subscribers offloaded by the other companies so that a clear cut assessment and evaluation can be made based on the statistics and data.
And this, that “Globacom’s reputation for unreliable service has hurt growth. A major cyberattack in August, 2023 exposed customer data to unknown hackers and went unreported for a year, exacerbating the reputational damage.” And I dare say, even up till today cyber-attacks have not and cannot be totally eradicated, banking institutions, electoral institutions, personal details and data are constantly attacked, when the submarine cables of some Telecommunications companies were attacked not quite long, Glo was not affected, hence its network continue to function seamlessly.
In what Techcabal called Regulatory and financial challenges, Techcabal threw caution to the wind by delving into bilateral corporate disagreement between two telecoms competitors that have since settled their matter. It said “As the only local telecom company in a market dominated by foreign players, Globacom has enjoyed a leniency that industry players have questioned. Despite owing MTN Nigeria ₦3 billion in interest on interconnection fees for 15 years, Globacom settled the debt for ₦2 billion without facing significant consequences,” this indeed is obviously a case of crying more than the bereaved and smacks of negative journalistic mandate. Those are a few of the incomprehensible discrepancies discoverable in the witch-hunting epistle by Techcabal.
The writer practically overlooked the efforts the telecoms giant has made over the years in developing and growing the entire spectrum of the industry. With numerous mouthwatering customer-centric service deliveries that are aimed at impacting positively on its subscribers, there is definitely no way Glo will not in the nearest future overtake its competitors in all fronts.
The future is here already. In the year 2022, the wholly indigenous Telecom giant was categorized third in all subscription based classification, but it expectedly dismantled that category and delightedly emerged second all high position by the end of 2023. This feat was not granted, but a result of serious hard work on the part of the Chairman, management, staff and partners whose collaborations and contributions ensured the Glo master plans are strategically and constantly implemented, hence the positive results the company rolls out year in year out.
Undoubtedly the company has consistently maintained top position in the data subscription category for many years. Of course, in this age and time, data is life, any individual, organisation, company, government that is out of data is out of life; data improves your businesses, and this is where Glo is called the grand master of data. The efficient data service delivery by Glo from inception marked it out as a company with consciously designed effort to live the dream of its customers, empowering them to realize and excel in whatever their aspirations are through Glo business intuitions which it showcased through its per second billing. From its high tech sophistication, service
Delivery, its Corporate Service Responsibilities (CSR) to her unique mouthwatering bonanzas which none of its competitors dares to attempt, Glo is the grand master, a pacesetter, the leader while other follow.
The surge in data utilisation, the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), the advent of artificial intelligence and the emergence of cutting-edge technologies as factors underscoring the need for ongoing network surveillance and expansion. The company constantly navigates and innovates in its general operations towards ensuring a transformative era successfully as it makes strategic investments and cultivates an environment conducive to growth for itself and its highly esteemed customers.
The record is there for everyone to see that Globacom was the only operator in all of Africa to launch its operations on the superior 2.5G network that ensured the convergence of voice, data and multimedia technologies – an innovative platform that not only enhanced unparalleled voice clarity and low drop calls, but also enabled the offering of value-added services previously unavailable on the 2G technology – such as vehicle tracking, mobile internet, mobile banking, multimedia messaging service (MMS), voice SMS, Magic Plus and Text2email.
While that was going on with celebrations, Globacom launched another first, which firmly established the network as the acknowledged pioneer in the industry, was the introduction of the 3G Plus technology, an event that marked the second time that Globacom would be at the forefront of birthing the latest transmission network in Nigeria. This new technology enabled a much faster transmission of data, voice, broadband internet and multimedia services over a range of frequencies, and it allowed customers to make video calls, video streaming and high-speed mobile internet access, amongst others, just from their 3G mobile handsets.
Globacom also became the first network in the country to test the 4G-LTE network, a revolutionary fourth-generation mobile technology, that enhances data transfer rates, delivers unmatched mobile broadband experience and the highest data speeds and reliability, thus putting Nigeria in the league of nations where long-term evolution (LTE) has continued to gain a grip.
No doubt its commitment to relentless network expansion, in terms of both quality and quantity, so as to give its customers top-notch service, is squarely in line with the company’s mission statement: “To be the largest, most successful entertainment, information and telecommunications solutions provider, in Nigeria and Africa”. And in the last 21 years, it has invested billions of dollars in extending its long reach to every nooks and crannies of Nigeria and beyond – most notably via the deployment of the most extensive fibre optic backbone across the country. The fibre optic cable was built to further enhance voice and data transmission for mobile and fixed telephone operations in the country, and is complemented by a microwave backbone that serves as backup. The cable helps ensure that calls on the network are crisp and clear, without the interference of breaks and drops.
Above the ground, below the ground and even undersea, Globacom’s game-changing innovations took another leap forward. In the area of broadband connectivity, the launch of Glo-1, the intercontinental submarine cable linking Nigeria with the outside world, was not just a giant feat, costing over $250 million dollars, this project marked the first time a single company in Africa would implement such a massive undersea project. Glo-1 is an expansive trans-Atlantic cable designed to provide internet connectivity between Europe, America and the West African coast.
It is no longer news that this 9,800 km-long cable which has landing points in Lagos, Accra (Ghana), Dakar (Senegal), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Casablanca (Morocco), Vigo (Spain), Bude (England), among other points delivers a much faster and robust connectivity for voice, data and video. Of interest also is boosting the provision of services to telecom end-users, the facility is currently providing much-needed connectivity to critical sectors of the Nigerian and international economies such as oil and gas, manufacturing, banking, commerce, education and health, and a host of others.
More than two decades on, Nigeria’s active phone lines climb sharply from the about 400,000 in 2001 to over 200 million as at April 2023. Internet access rose from less than 1% broadband penetration in 2001 to 48% (which translates to 157 million subscribers). Of course while other mobile operators cumulatively lost about 100,000 internet subscriptions in one month, according to the industry regulator, Globacom gained over 200,000 subscriptions in the same period.
The memory is still fresh when 20 years ago, Glo in a triumphal entry like lion in a tribe stamped its feet on the telecommunications firmament of Nigeria, from that momentous beginning, Globacom Telecommunications Company Limited took over the frontiers of Nigeria’s telephony, for the benefit of an ever-expanding customer and client base. Today, millions of Nigerians and citizens of some West African sub-region are not only showing gratitude to Glo, they are using its many platforms, products and offerings to Rule their World – and in the process discovering Unlimited possibilities in their business, career, educational, health and wellness, and relationship journeys.
Yes 21 years, August 2003 and August 2023 fairly can be described as a watershed period in the Nigerian telecommunications industry. In fact, one can go so far as to assert that Globacom is the catalyst that revolutionised the mobile telecommunications ecosystem in the country, and placed her entire economy on the pedestal it is on today, as well as positioning it for greater growth in a future in which new work and social paradigms and cutting-edge technologies will define the way we work, live and interact with one another.
When GSM first cast its anchor on our shores in 2001 (with the arrival of the first two legacy mobile operators) Nigerians believed their prayers had at last been answered. The new telecoms regime was rightly seen as a clear departure from the egregious failure of the state-owned monopoly that had gulped so much public expenditure in the form of subventions and taxes without a commensurate return in services.
However, the euphoria of the coming of GSM services soon gave way to bewilderment. Doubt quickly replaced hope, as Nigerians were confronted with the reality or shall we say, double jeopardy – of both the high cost of mobile lines and the N50 per minute billing system. In a more subtle replication of the “Telephones are not for the poor” attitude, the legacy mobile operators insisted that it was ‘impossible‘ to sell lines at more affordable prices. Not only that, they also ruled out per-second billing (PSB) as being unrealistic, owing to the cost of obtaining licences and the humongous funds needed for network expansion. One of the networks even condescended to say that per second billing could only happen in 2010.
So, GSM services, like those of NITEL, seemed destined to remain the exclusive preserve of Nigeria’s rich and middle class for the foreseeable future. But when Glo made that bold entry in Nigeria per second billing was made possible which Nigerians are enjoying today including Techcabal and their cronies.
From the iconic and eagerly anticipated events which light up the nation’s cultural calendar, such as the Ojude Oba Festival and the Onitsha Ofala Festival (to name just two) to the numerous talent, reality and game-shows that have produced stars who have gone on to become global icons in music, movies, comedy and so forth, Globacom’s sponsorship footprint is everywhere, and its logo is a conspicuous and familiar sight. Nigeria’s ascendancy on the world stage as an emerging cultural superpower has GLOBACOM written all over it. Not long ago, for example, Globacom launched an online streaming app. Known as GloTV, it is an innovative TV streaming service on Android, IoS and Web for watching live TV; video on demand; and Catch-up with premium content.
It is no secret that Nigeria’s quest to develop a functional, profitable and dynamic football league and general ecosystem capable of sustaining itself and becoming profitable enough to wean itself of its long-standing dependence on government subvensions has motivated Globacom, since its inception, to support Nigerian football in various ways – a support which culminated in the heartwarming triumph of Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the 2013 African Nations Cup (AFCON), among other feats. Globacom was, for many a season, the sole sponsor of the Glo/CAF Awards which honoured individual and team excellence from the continent.
Glo has made many Nigerians millionaires, house owners, car owners, giving scholarships, trainings, through her numerous bonazas and promos, why did the writer of that junk not see all these value this giant indigenous telecoms company has created for the benefits of all Nigerians?
In entertainment and culture, Globacom is there. The telecommunications giant, Globacom is so passionate about the Onitsha Ofala Festival, a top-rated cultural festival in Nigeria; it also took over the sponsorship of the 2023 edition of Ojude Oba Festival, one of Nigeria’s biggest cultural events which holds two days after the Id-El-Kabir festival in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. The company has been participating as main sponsor of the cultural event since 2006.
