By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The management of nTel, the latest GSM service provider, has been advised by the Federal Government to consider going national.
Since it commenced operations, the network has been struggling to stamp its authority in the industry, almost being relegated to the bottom.
But the Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, advised the firm to go national so as to give Nigerians in the rural areas opportunity to make choices and enjoy the services of ntel along other network providers.
Speaking when the Managing Director of nTel, Mr Ernest Akinlola, paid him a courtesy visit, the Minister, while congratulating the new MD, said he would give him the necessary support because nTel belongs to Nigeria and that the challenges of funding and going international should be addressed because “it is government ambition to encourage Nigerian companies in the telecom sector to succeed.”
Hence, they should be able to have a timeline to be able to use nTel everywhere in the country and internationally.
The new Managing Director of nTel, in his speech said he deemed it necessary to pay a courtesy visit to the Minister because of the massive support his company has received from him and the Ministry since inception.
Mr Akinlola said he has a clear vision of where he is taking the company to, “to be number one in Nigeria”, because he is going to build a company that is customer based, engaging in network sharing of information with Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and infrastructure with other network providers in Nigeria.
Furthermore, he promised to turn the past corners of where challenges are, and move forward to build relationship with the Ministry as well as customers because telecom industry needs to survive in Nigeria.
The chief executive said that he will also build a nomenclature to invest in Ericsson, grow its footprint, and get cheaper handset for the customers.
