CelTel to invest $700m by 2008

Remmy Nweke , who was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The Netherlands based mobile giant, CelTel International, has said it would invest in the next two years an estimated $700 million on its operations on the continent.

This is coming as CelTel has indicated interest on getting the Unified License in Nigeria.

Chief Executive, CelTel International B.V. of Netherlands, Mr. Martens Pieters, disclosed all this at a parley with a session of the Nigerian media in Kilimanjaro Hotel, Kempinski, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania weekend.

He also said CelTel is determined to build its network consistently so as to be above competition, noting that this way, the operator would be able to bring about reduction in tariffs on its services.

He stressed that building network depends immensely on the people working on the operations already.

“Expanding the network is constantly going on,” he said.

Pointing out that in Nigeria, instability has become a major obstacle and expressed confident that CelTel, formerly Vmobile Nigeria would improve on its offerings to Nigerians.

He further affirmed that definitely, CelTel Nigeria which is warming up for total rebranding, would soon go for unified license.

“Yes, CelTel is going for unified license, which is based on technology, because eventually everyone would go into unified license,” he declared.

Warning, however, that Nigerians should not expect so much from the Unified Licensing Regime (ULR), because according to him, technologies are all over fighting for space, yet there is issue of frequency to be addressed.

He was however silent on the date CelTel would commence action on the ULR in the country, even as he said, rebranding of Vmobile Nigeria to CelTel, which it recently acquired a major stake in would be concluded in matter of weeks.

Mr. Pieters, confirmed that the immediate chief executive of Vmobile Nigeria, Mr. Willem Swet was not sacked, rather, he resigned voluntarily to rejoin his family in South Africa after midwifing Vmobile surrounded with crisis to a certain level of stability.

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