With the entry of global telecom
giant Vodafone into the Ghanaian telecoms industry, things would never be the
same again. Matter-of-fact, the telecoms industry is very exciting at this time
because Ghana is the meeting point of some African and international telecoms
giants: MTN, Tigo, Vodafone, Zain, and soon-to-launch Glo Mobile. The main
thrust of my writing at this time is to highlight their recent efforts to
sign-on new customers and keep existing ones.
Zain Ghana: a loud entry, a
sophisticated network
It all started with the entry of Zain in the 4th
quarter of 2008. Zain had already done their homework very well and launched a
very sophisticated network. They have the financial muscle to announce their
new brand loudly and they did that with maximum effect. Before then, no
operator had given MTN Ghana (the present market-leader) serious competition
like Zain has. Zain launched the first 3.5G network (supports very fast
Internet connectivity, video calling etc) in Ghana and MTN was scrambling to
catch-up. Though Zain’s 3.5G network is presently limited to Accra, Tema and
Kumasi, EDGE (faster than GPRS) is available where their 3.5G doesn’t cover.
Perhaps it is an endorsement of the quality offered by Zain that makes it the
fastest growing network in Ghana today. Zain presently has in excess of 1
million subscribers, according to media reports. I did a comparative analysis of Zain and MTN at Mobile Africa,
a few months ago.
The latest stunt is their “Live Your Dream” promo,
that is offering various cash rewards to subscribers. The aim – from my point
of view – is to get subscribers to use more and more airtime thereby driving
Zain’s revenue upwards. The biggest of the cash rewards is a whopping GHc75,000
(about US$50,000).
Vodafone Ghana; a migration to
excellence, an obscene promo
Vodafone is widely known to be a world-class
telecommunications company. One can only expect the very best from them,
following their take-over of Ghana Telecom and its Onetouch subsidiary.
Vodafone also made a lot of noise with its launch into Ghana earlier this year.
They announced having made improvements to the cellular and fixed line networks
before launch. I am unable to verify their claims as I do not use Vodafone’s
mobile service. The service from the Vodafone fixed phone I use has remained
the same. Their tagline after re-branding into Vodafone is “A network that
works” – obviously in an effort to woo subscribers who are fed-up with poor
services from other cellular networks. Vodafone is also growing fast and report to
have added 800,000 more subscribers to their network.
Vodafone Ghana Launches Biggest
Promo Ever
21 July 2009
Vodafone has launched the biggest promotion ever in
the history of telecommunications in Ghana for its prepaid mobile and land line
users.
The 1 million dollar* grand prize comprises
of a 4-bedroom fully furnished Trasacco Valley house, a Mitsubishi Pajero 4X4
vehicle with a complimentary driver for 3 months and 12 months free high speed
Vodafone Broadband internet connection plus land line.
Vodafone customers also stand the chance of winning
a Mitsubishi Pajero 4X4 vehicle, Yamaha DT 125 Motorcycles, 2-year educational
scholarships, Dell Inspiron laptops, Vodafone branded iPod Shuffles, Vodafone
branded phones and loads of bonus airtime in two random draws, which will be
shown live on TV.
The promotion, called “Vodafone Rewards”, is
Vodafone’s way of saying “thank you” to all its valued customers for continuing
to use its products and services. *emphasis mine
One cannot help but conclude that this is a direct
response to Zain’s Live Your Dream promo. Both promos are similar but that of
Vodafone is on a much larger scale.
MTN Ghana; scrambling to stay on
top
MTN has always been a market leader in Ghana. From
when the the network was branded Spacefon, Areeba and finally MTN, they always
stood out with their wide network coverage and numerous value-added services.
Being the first digital cellular network in Ghana, the high quality offered by
their GSM technology attracted many people to them. Scancom Ghana Limited (the
company behind MTN in Ghana) is one of the biggest companies in Ghana and their
cellular network has the most subscribers.
MTN has been very busy since the entry of Zain and
Vodafone.
launched “seamless roaming” – a service that
allows free roaming into Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon for MTN Ghana
subscribers
launched a web recharge service
launched a Mobile TV service in collaboration
with DSTV that is still in test phase
and would be rolling-out a money transfer
service known as MTN MobileMoney, today 22nd July 2009.
MTN has not announced any plans for a promo but I
bet they will do so soon, if history is anything to go by.
Tigo Ghana; the 4th factor?
Tigo grew out of Mobitel Ghana. Mobitel is the
first cellular network in Ghana. It launched wayback in 1992. As a result of
their slow innovation, Spacefon (now MTN) that launched in 1995 seized the
baton from them. Tigo played second fiddle to MTN for years. With the entry of Zain
and Vodafone, I suspect that Tigo is now playing “4th fiddle”.
Their TV ads have increased drastically and they
make noise about being a network that actually works. They have promos
that encourage old subscribers to get back on board and another that offers 10
to 20% discounts on call rates to faithful subscribers.
Glo Mobile Ghana; delayed,
charged for action
Glo is a market leader in its home country –
Nigeria. Glo revolutionized the telecoms industry in Nigeria with lower tariffs
and even more value added services. Though they won a licence through a
closely-contested bid to run a cellular network over a year ago, their roll-out
in Ghana had been delayed by bureaucracy from the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). Having obtained the clearance to erect radio masts from EPA
recently, I am sure they are constructing their masts across Ghana,
aggressively. Despite their achievement in Nigeria, I am skeptical about how
they can make headway in Ghana since the market is already heavily dominated by
international giants. One trump card Glo Mobile Ghana has is their parent
company’s submarine cable (Glo-1) that links West Africa to the UK. It
promises gigantic Internet bandwidth. Can they translate this gold mine into
cash? Time will tell.
.gif)
