Glo clinches five awards @ 08’NITTA

The Second National Operator (SNO) has clinched five prizes at the just concluded Nigeria Information Technology and Telecom Awards 2008, with its chairman, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr, bagging the Pan African Investor of the year.

Also, Glo’s Group Chief Operating Officer (GCOO), Mr. Mohamed Jameel, was named the Telecom CEO of the Year.

Globacom, equally emerged as the Rural Access Phone Service Provider of the Year, the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) Operator of the Year and the National Telephone Operator of the Year; making Globacom the highest award winner at the event with five awards.

While applauding Dr. Adenuga as the Pan African Telecom Investor of the Year, NITTA organizers said that the businessman had made Globacom the first single telecoms firm in the region to test the 3G network, lay an under sea cable across West Africa to Europe and launch the first nationwide optic fibre transmission network.

On behalf of Globacom, Dr. Adenuga also signed a contract to install West Africa’s first wireless network based on Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service/High Speed Packet Access (UMTS/HSPA) technology. “This project will provide one million subscribers with state of the arts mobile broadband services,” NITTA said.

The organizers further noted that Dr. Adenuga, recently took Glo to Ghana and the Republic of Benin, thereby setting the tempo of competition in the region, which is anticipated to automatically increase the quality of service along international standard. “The region is definitely about to experience true integration envisaged by the founding fathers of ECOWAS,” part of the citation on Glo read.

In the Glo’s citation as the GSM Operator of the Year, the organisers of the award said that Glo Mobile has been at the forefront of revolutionary changes in the GSM sector in Nigeria, offering both prepaid and contract services along with a range of Value Added Services.

“Despite losing a two-year head start to competition, Glo Mobile has in five years of operation become the fastest growing GSM network in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and the third fastest growing network in the world achieving more than 19 million subscribers. Within this period, the network has earned the reputation of providing a better coverage than competition put together wherever it is present,” the citation further read.

The citation also noted Glo Mobile’s roaming partnership agreement with over 60 telecoms operators worldwide, whereby subscribers can travel abroad and still have their mails pushed to their Blackberry devices while on the move. “This is another unrivalled edge,” it stated.

As Rural Access Phone Service Provider of the Year Globacom was commended for “deploying services into the rural underserved areas of the country.”

The panel of judges for the NITTA award, made up of eminent Nigerians from the telecoms industry, law, print and broadcast media, led by Dr. Tom Adaba, acknowledged that Globacom is a one-stop telecommunications solutions provider and the ultimate National Operator.


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