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Etisalat Commissions Flagship Experience Centre in Abuja
Nigeria’s most innovative telecommunications company, Etisalat, last weekend, commissioned a world class flagship Experience Centre in Abuja.
Speaking to journalists at the official launch of the Flagship Experience Centre, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Matthew Willsher said the company constantly strives to deliver outstanding customer service at every touch point. Read the rest of this entry
Etisalat Excites Subscribers with Vringo Services
Nigeria’s most innovative telecommunications company Etisalat is out to excite customers in the Nigerian telecoms market with a special video ringtone service called ‘Vringo’. The new product allows customers to customise their caller tunes by replacing it with a video clip of their choice, ranging from music, movie, and comedy to football and other sports.
Head, Digital Media, Etisalat Nigeria, Adia Sowho said the new product is to enable etisalat customers get as much pleasure as possible from their telephony experience.
“We’re committed to listening and responding to our customers to ensure that they are at the heart of everything we do. Our customers rely on us to develop innovative products that deliver value to them and ensure that they can derive as much pleasure as possible from our network,” she said.
Shedding more light on the product, Sowho said that the Vringo service also enables customersto share video ringtones with friends across multiple platforms. The service is compatible with Android, Java and Symbian devices and is available on WEB, WAP and also available as a mobile application.
Customers can opt in via SMS by sending “SUB” to 669 on an etisalat line. To de-activate, all a customer needs to do is text “STOP” to 669. The service is free for the first 30 days, after which customers will be charged a subscription fee of N 100.00 monthly.”
The application comes preloaded with a wide range of video clips including latest local and international music videos, movie clips, comedy clips, football clips and Etisalat specific content. While some of the content is free, however, premium content is available for downloads for a one off fee of N50 per download.
Zuriel Oduwole Pays Courtesy Call On Etisalat Nigeria
Eleven year old award winning girl child education advocate, documentary film maker, conference speaker, and writer on Tuesday 8 July, 2014, payed a courtesy call to Etisalat Nigeria.
The courtesy call was made to the Youth Segment Team, in what can be described as a chat on Cliqlite, our child-friendly product, recently rolled out to the market.
The visit which lasted about 50 minutes had in attendance Wole Rawa, Director of Consumer Segments, Enitan Denloye, Director, Brands and Communication and the Youth Segment Team who were on ground to welcome Zuriel to Etisalat.
The Cliqlite tablet was the major subject during the chat. Idiare Etimomo explained the reason behind the product launch and stated the pros that come with the device while highlighting the security measures made available to ensure that kids using the devices are actually using it for the right purpose; learning while having fun.
In her remarks, Zuriel commended Etisalat for such innovation, especially for identifying with children at a time when child education in Nigeria was on the decline. She also told the team that Nigeria was her 4th country stop for her #FollowTheBallForEducation project, a campaign in support for Education among children which was launched in Brazil. The Campaign will cover countries like Brazil, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mauritius and South Africa in a bid to gather support and signatures from players, fans, government officials, organizations and ordinary people as she brings attention to the need for safe education for girls across Africa.
The ball signing session was also conducted at the Etisalat premises by Enitan Denloye and Oluwole Rawa.
Zuriel was later presented with a Cliqlite tablet from Etisalat.
Etisalat Adds Super BB and Super Data to the Easybusiness Package
In line with its innovative DNA and the desire to continuously delight subscribers with value offerings, Etisalat Nigeria has introduced two more plans on its Easybusiness package called Super BB and Super Data Plan.
Director Business Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Lucas Dada said the company is driven by the desire to continually grow customer loyalty through improved and innovative value offerings that help customers conduct their businesses locally and internationally at minimum cost and maximum satisfaction. “Easybusiness was introduced in 2012 as a strong value proposition for Small and Growing Businesses, offering free calls and SMS in a Closed User Group (CUG) as little as three at a competitive flat rate per month. We are driven to continue to find ways to make Easy Business the de-facto business mobile phone package for SMEs in Nigeria,”
This is why we are introducing two new plans under the easybusiness package. They are the Super BB and Super Data plans which come with the existing easybusiness premium variant bundled with a BlackBerry Complete plan and 200 MB data respectively,” he said.
For customers already on the Easybusiness premium plan, things just got better as Dada highlighted that there would be no need for them to dial additional codes to enjoy BlackBerry or data services, because “this enhanced bundle not only provides the convenience of an all in one package without the hassles of remembering and dialling different activation codes but also provides the opportunity for customers to make international calls at a highly subsidized rates”.
Drawing the line between the two offerings, the Director Business Segment added that the “Super BB is a stand-alone plan with features of easybusiness premium plan which includes close user group (CUG) minutes capped at 2500 and 100 CUG SMS bundled with blackberry complete and 30 international minutes to 14 destinations. The SuperData is a combination of the easybusiness premium plan which offers CUG minutes capped at 2500 and 100 CUG SMS, bundled with 200 MB and 20 international minutes to 14 destinations.”
Etisalat Nigeria Officially Announces iPhone 5s with 12-Month Warranty and Trade-in Program for Next-Generation iPhone
Etisalat Nigeria has announced the official launch of the iPhone 5s with 12-month warranty and a trade-in offer that will allow Etisalat customers exchange their iPhone 5s devices for the yet to be released next-generation iPhone. The iPhone 5s was unveiled at an event at the recently launched Gold Series Etisalat Experience Centre at Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos, on June 16, 2014.
The Director, Retail Sales at Etisalat Nigeria, Charles Ogunwuyi, speaking at the event, described the partnership as a demonstration of the company’s commitment to providing customers with world class telecommunication services.
According to Ogunwuyi, “Our partnership with Apple Inc is a match of two innovative giants. It acknowledges our sustained investment in network infrastructure and capacity to ensure consistent quality of service. There is no doubt that the iPhone 5s will be at its best while running on the Etisalat network.”
A delighted Ogunwuyi highlighted that Apple Inc chose to partner with Etisalat Nigeria in acknowledgement of the quality of its network and service offerings that would optimise user experience on the iPhone 5s. He disclosed that the device is available at all Etisalat Experience Centres nationwide.
Matthew Willsher Appointed CEO of Etisalat
The Board of Directors of Etisalat Nigeria today announced the appointment of Matthew Charles Willsher as its new Chief Executive Officer. Willsher previously held the position of Chief Commercial Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer replacing previous CEO, Steven Evans in August 2013. In under a year of his leadership Etisalat has recorded over 20% growth in its customer base, increase in spend per customer, significant strengthening of margins, and has maintained the No. 1 position on Customer Satisfaction.
Matthew Willsher, a physics graduate from the prestigious University of Oxford with a Masters in Management from McGill, started his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble. He joins Etisalat Nigeria with over 20 years in telecommunications. Prior to Etisalat Nigeria, he was Executive Vice President, Marketing at Etisalat Group from 2011 to 2013. He also served as Chief Marketing Officer and Head of the Consumer Business from 2008 to 2011 at Maxis, the leading telecommunications operator in Malaysia, an innovative operator that overtook the incumbent operator in Malaysia to become number one.
From to 2005 to 2008, he was Chief Operating Officer in CSL Limited, the largest mobile operator in Hong Kong; and before this, he spent 4 years at Telstra Australia where he occupied a number of leadership positions. Willsher’s blue-chip career also includes managing a range of consumer products for BT in the UK, leading marketing for BT’s mobile operator joint venture with LG Telecom in South Korea.
Mr. Hakeem Belo-Osagie, Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria said, “Matthew’s creativity and deep understanding of emerging markets has played a pivotal role in Etisalat’s strengthened market position in the highly competitive telecommunications industry. He brings with him the vision, passion and years of experience from diverse environments which have sustained the execution of our priorities providing superior customer experience, sustained network quality and increase in our operational excellence. We look forward to the continued leadership that he has brought to the company”.
Since joining the company in 2013 as acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria’s market position has been reinforced with an increased focus on sales channels, customer service, segment marketing and new self service-channels increasing operational efficiency. Willsher’s leadership has also realized a wide variety of innovative programs including the first loyalty proposition in the Nigerian telecommunication industry, Etisalat GEM; the first of its kind educational tool in the youth market, Cliqlite; as well as the launch of the new state of the art gold series flagship experience centres, a revolutionary retail experience driven by the essence of the Etisalat brand.
The operational performance of Etisalat Nigeria has also been substantiated with transformation of its IT operations being accredited with the ISO Quality Standard and continuous recognition as offering the best quality. The sustained investment in quality of service is evident in the sole exemption of Etisalat from the recent NCC ban on other telecommunication providers.
Etisalat Nigeria has continued to be a leading contributor to Nigerian culture and content promoting Music with platforms such as Etisalat Cloudnine and Nigerian Idol, Arts & Culture with Africa’s first pan-African prize for debut fiction the Etisalat Prize for Literature, and a focus on sustainable development joining the recently inaugurated Nigerian Regional Network of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation 2014: Call for Entries Announced
Etisalat Nigeria today announced call for entries for the 2014 Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation. The Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation introduced in 2012 rewards the most innovative mobile broadband product, idea or service that positively impacts on African mobile users and demonstrate a valuable socio economic benefit to customers.
Acting Chief Executive Officer at Etisalat Nigeria Matthew Willsher said, “At our core, the Etisalat business is developing innovative initiatives, products and services to expose Nigeria and Africa in general to the opportunities that abound with broadband. Etisalat recognizes the importance of broadband in healthcare, education, business, security beyond communication through voice and data and the Pan-African Prize for innovation is designed to reward corporate organisations; small and growing businesses as well as individuals developing advanced mobile broadband solutions and platforms in Africa”.
The Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation is awarded in two categories, the most innovative product/service and most innovative (not commercially available) idea with cash rewards of $25,000 and $10,000 respectively.The award will be one of the major attractions at the 17th Annual Africa Com Conference and awards gala dinner scheduled to take place in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2014.
“We are happy to encourage developers in the ICT industry with focus on those who innovate to drive the use of mobile broadband in Africa. We are encouraged by the enthusiasm that has welcomed this prize since 2012 when it was launched and we hope to build on the success attained so far.” Willsher concluded.
The competition is open to individuals and SME’s with innovative products and ideas in the mobile broadband sphere.
Apple’s Partnership With Etisalat: Because Quality Matters
Apple designs revolutionary mobile phones and the best personal computers in the world. How much emphasis does Apple place on quality? A lot obviously, since Apple launched the first iPhone in 2007, the company has released the phone only to select markets with mobile networks that provide the internet speed and quality to deliver on the phone’s multitude of functionality.
With the recent announcement Etisalat released on the partnership with Apple to officially make iPhone 5s available in Nigeria it is clear that internationally recognized high-speed broadband has truly come to Nigeria.
The iPhone 5s will be officially available on the Etisalat network from the 16th of June 2014 and that comes with a full year of warranty coverage from Etisalat. Now it is not uncommon to find an Etisalat SIM in most iPhones and iPads in Nigeria and this is no surprise as Etisalat easyblaze is arguably the fastest on the market.
iPhone 5s will definitely be at home in Nigeria running on the super-fast EasyBlaze from Etisalat, albeit with a premium price tag. Then again, you get what you pay for.
Etisalat introduces low tariff roaming offer to Brazil
Nigeria’s most innovative and fastest growing telecommunication company, Etisalat, is set to introduce an affordable roaming offer for the upcoming global football tournament slated for Brazil from June 1st through July 31st.
The Director, Business Segment at Etisalat Nigeria, Lucas Dada said the global football tournament is being hosted in Brazil and Nigeria is among the 32 countries that would be competing. The etisalat Brazil roaming offer provides customers with affordable rates so they can keep in touch with their families, friends, and business associates easily, seamlessly and affordably with Etisalat’s discounted roaming rates on local calls within Brazil, calls to Nigeria, SMS and data activities.
Details of the offer show that it is valid from June 1st through July 31st, 2014, and is open to all prepaid and post paid subscribers, except enuf yarn (commercial call operators), while Etisalat is partnering with the vivo network in Brazil to make it possible.
With this special offering, local calls made to local Brazilian networks and calls made to Nigeria from Brazil would be charged at just N200, internet and data activities at N1 per 10kb, while SMS will cost N60 per SMS.
Dada advised that customers who travel to Brazil should ensure they are roaming on vivo Brazil by carrying out a manual network search. They should do so by going to settings on their handsets, locate “Mobile Networks” and select “Manual”. On doing this, the customers’ phone will list all available partner networks, so that he/she can select “vivo” to enjoy the special roaming rates in Brazil. Note that customers, who roam on networks other than vivo, will be charged the applicable roaming rates for those networks.
Roaming is available to all prepaid subscribers by default; however to enjoy continuous access to mobile services, customers must ensure they have sufficient airtime via any of the following means:
- Credit transfers, e-TopUps or ‘Recharge Others’ from any sender in Nigeria
- Online at https://www.quickteller.com/etisalat
- Online at http://www.etranzact.net/JustTopup/?SP=1 (select Etisalat from the list)
- Log in via your Internet banking platform, locate “Payment or Bills Payment, select NIBBS e-bills and choose etisalat from the list
Post paid customers who are not yet activated for roaming would need to visit the nearest etisalat experience centre to request for roaming services and pay the mandatory roaming security deposit before embarking on their trip in order to access the roaming service while abroad.
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