Airtel, MTN lead strategy development for Nigerian telecoms
The second annual Nigeria Com conference and exhibition opened today at the Eko Centre in Lagos - Nigeria's leading event for the telecoms, media and ICT community.
The major topics of discussion were: growth opportunities, network expansion, quality of service, power, internet access, customer care and pricing. As Deepak Srivastava, COO of Airtel Nigeria, said: 'Nigeria Com is very good for helping industry leaders to get together, to talk about what's happening in the market and to develop a strategy for the country'.
Deepak opened the conference with a keynote presentation on Airtel's strategy and position after 1 year in the market. The first conference session also included a keynote from market leader MTN. Bayo Adekanmbi, Senior Manager for Business Intelligence, said it was 'a pleasure to be at the 2nd Nigeria Com' and gave a positive message: 'MTN's 10th anniversary is not just reinforcing how much we have led, innovated and enriched the way millions of Nigerians live, work and play; it is a demonstration of MTN's concept of responsible marketing to give much more through value-adding lifestyle-enhancing solutions and transforming corporate social investment'.
A panel discussion followed, with leaders from alternative service providers Mobitel, Pinet Informatics, Comium Data and Geoidtel. They covered strategic topics such as broadband connectivity, VAS, enterprise services and more.
The rest of the day focused on network strategies, with presentations by Corning, Gilat and Huawei, and further contributions from operators Mobitel and Starcomms.
The 2nd day will include more presentations from operators Etisalat, Glo and Visafone among others, as well as a regulatory update from the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications.
'This event shows that Nigeria is one of the most exciting telecoms and ICT markets in Africa', says Julie Rey, Research Director at organisers Informa Telecoms and Media. 'We are pleased to see that so many participants were undeterred by heavy rain and traffic to attend and share ideas and network with their peers'.
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