By Efem Nkanga, Chinedu Eze and Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 09.20.2006


In furtherance of Federal Government’s efforts to encourage technology transfer through increased local content in the telecommunications sector, leading mobile phone manufacturers, Nokia and Motorola, will soon establish plants for the manufacturing and assembling of mobile phone handsets and other accessories in Nigeria.
Preceding that, however, is MTN, Nigeria’s leading, GSM operator’s yesterday major airtime rate cut for its subscribers.
The plants are to be established under a special partnership arrangement between the Nigerian government and the foreign investors.
Minister of Communica-tions, Dr. Femi Anibaba, disclosed this yesterday at the opening of the 5th International Telecommunications Strategic Conference held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. This is the second consecutive time Nigeria will be hosting the conference after its previous editions in London.
According to the Minister, government had realised the need to cultivate local content in the sector because of the need to ensure that the rapid growth being witnessed in Nigeria and other African countries were sustained and the technologies adapted to the local environment.
A Chinese firm, ZTE, has already established a hand terminal manufacturing plant in Abuja with an initial capacity to manufacture one thousand handsets per day.
Anibaba said this year’s conference would serve as an important avenue to showcase Africa’s potentials in telecommunications and pave the way for Direct Foreign Investments (DFI) as participants drawn from around the world would have access to relevant information on investment potential in the telecommunications sector within the African continent.
The conference, he said, should also provide the basis for an enduring partnership not only between the public and private sectors but also between individual telecommunications bodies in the common resolve to extend information and communications technology services to the reach of all citizens regardless of their socio-economic status. Anibaba noted that with the world becoming a global village, there was an urgent need for participants to critically review globalisation, sustainable telecommunications development in Africa and the Millennium Development Goals.
Giving an update on the growth of telecommunications industry in Nigeria, the Minster disclosed that what used to be steady growth in Nigeria’s teledensity has been transformed to rapid growth. Quoting a recent research conducted on the Nigerian telecommunications industry, the Minister said that the Nigerian mobile market, adjudged as one of the fastest growing in the world, was now home to one out of every ten mobile lines in Africa, with the potential to grow to one out of every four, by 2010 while teledensity has risen from its last year’s figure of 9.47 per cent to 18.18 per cent.
Anibaba attributed the rapid growth in the industry to the presence of a proactive regulatory regime domiciled in the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the introduction of the Unified Licensing Regime as well as the recent setting up of a Presidential Task Force for the restructuring of government institutions and organisations in the sector to pave way for a more effective, efficient and harmonised performance of these institutions and enhance convergence of technologies in telecommunications, broadcasting and information technology.
The 5th International Telecom-munications Strategic Conference is being organised by the CWC Associates Limited of London in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications. Essentially, the conference seeks to provide a forum for all the telecommunications stakeholders to interact with each other and discuss on the latest technological developments and investment opportunities in the Nigerian telecommunications market. It is also intended to provide an opportunity for participants to share operational and regulatory best practices.
Several telecommunication equipment manufacturers and vendors will be exhibiting their products at the three-day event.
Meanwhile Nigeria’s leading mobile telecommunications service provider, MTN Nigeria Comm-unications yesterday announced a comprehensive package which promises to deliver mouth-watering pricing concessions and absolutely free late night calls and other special offers targeted at all categories of users on the MTN Network.
Addressing the media in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh, MTN’s Chief Executive Officer, noted that “our value proposition being unveiled today reflects exciting pricing plans and a package of customer recognition and reward offerings that have been specially put together to deliver ‘pleasures of life…in full measure’ for all classes of customers on the MTN network.
According to him, “it is a most friendly, value-laden price plan and incentive package which is yet unprecedented in this market.”
The offering, which enables MTN users to communicate at relatively low rates comes in various packs suitable to all classes of users on the network. MTN Xtra Connect enabled for Family users offers N30/min (50k/sec) peak and N25/min (42/sec) off peak MTN to MTN calls, 50 per cent discount on these rates to three family and friends numbers off peak, lower SMS rates, as against N48/min currently. Connect4life to the MTN network, offers one Free MMS/month as well as a free CallMe messages to let other people know when you want them to call you.
MTN Xtra Cool is enabled for Young Men & Women. It attracts a pricing plan that offers N32/min (53k/sec) peak and N26/min (43/sec) off peak, 30 per cent discount on these rates to three ‘family & friends’ numbers, free calls between 12:30am-4:30am, free content downloads, 10 free MMS/month as well as CallMe messages.
MTN Xtra Pro has been packaged to cater for the dire needs of the Young Professional Class. It attracts N25/min (42k/sec) peak and N20/min (33k/sec) off peak, lower SMS rates, access fee of N500 for 30 days, N100 free airtime value, 10 free MMS per month as well as downloads each month.
There is yet another package for high powered individuals, MTN Xtra Special. This attracts N20/min (33k/sec) peak and off peak, lower SMS rates, access fee of N3000 and N300 free airtime value.
Finally, the offering also has a package for the Business Centre Community. Known as MTN Xtra Profit, it attracts an unmatchable on-net rates of N17/min (28k/sec) enabled with a lowered access of N9000.
In addition, the telecoms giant also unveiled a new bunch of products, each of which has been specially designed to add value to subscribers. There is MTN Connect which enables MTN users to remain connected for life while cutting out the inconveniences of always loading recharge cards; Mobile Office, a GPRS-enabled business tool that allows busy executives on the move to access key business information like email and other office schedules; and MTN Caller Tunez, a service that allows the activation of various tunes to entertain those who make calls to MTN numbers.
Others include MTN Loaded, a service that provides customers easy and direct access to a virtual island of fun and entertainment; and MTN Share & Sell, a service which provides customers the opportunity to share airtime from their prepaid account to other subscribers on the network.
In his words, Farroukh describes the development as “the boldest move by any mobile telephone network in Nigeria to guarantee its entire subscriber base a modern and progressive rhythm of life-a package that guarantees ‘pleasures of life in full measure’ for over ten million Nigerians!”

Wow This will be great news for the Nigerian Economy
So long as the governemnt reinforces that these companies be forced to re-invest in the Nigerian Economy.

It is good to have companies from overseas come and to business in developoing nations (such is the case with success like India and China)
But the goverment must be careful that the money is used to further grow the Economy.

I like this development, seems like a better thing than the fraud known as Transcorp.

yep imagine buying a nokia handset that says made in nigeria on the box

cool, but believe me it would not say Made in Nigeria
unless offcourse it was reserched and developed here.

It would most likely say Assembled in Nigeria or Manufactured in Nigeria, just like the Made in France, Assembled in Nigeria, Peugot
This makes me sad , but it is at least a stepping stone in the right direction

josboy the phones won't be assembled they wil be made and ssembled, nigeria has more metal and plastic resources than some france place, we've got tin, columbite, oil (for plastic), trust me if it is built for the right purposes and not just to make cash it will say made in naija

motorola isn't a australian company but the one i bought here doesn't even mention europe or america, hey i'm a a josboy for life too

True, but i thought the differentiating fact lied therein with where the product was researched and developing.
If it will say made in Nigeria because the components are Nigerian and it is being assembled in Nigeria, horray
I gues there must be industry standards that control these variaables in consumer goods.

Hey your a fellow josboy, where in jos did you stay. I stayed by Abatoire Rd. By that nightclub Change.
Are you familiar with the railway junction that is located there?

i stayed in the university campus, great place, jos has tons of places to visit