Why We Don't Offer Free Night Calls—Etisalat

The fastest growing telecommunications company in the world and the largest operator in Africa and the Middle East, the  Vice President, Marketing of Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Woel Ammar, said the company has no provision for free mid-night calls as obtained in some existing operators, but to give quality service to the teeming population of Nigerians. Ammar said this in Lagos while fielding questions from journalists during the formal announcement of the Etisalat's commercial operations in Nigeria.
According to him: “Free night call is good. But in pragramatic terms, how many Nigerian subscribers do get through whenever they want to make such calls? We are offering our night calls at  rock-bottom rates, but on guaranteed terms that subscribers will not have any hassle getting through to whoever they want to speak with. Before we came to the conclusion of not introducing free night calls, we factored in the congestion problem which is indeed could be frustrating. It is to avoid same plight we decide not to come up with the free night calls service for now.  Calls made at night between 12.30 am and 4.30 am everyday to Etisalat numbers cost on 10 kobo per second.”.
Speaking further at the event, Mr. Ammar said that Etisalat Nigeria is entering  existing market backed by the strong and consistent record of technological and financial performance of the Etisalat Group for over 32 years. He posited that the company's antecedents will indeed enable Etisalat Nigeria to enjoy great synergies in research and development, rapid market entry and competitive pricing. All these factors and others when combined provides us confidence that we have a highly compelling value proposition that will generate strong demand from our customers and strong performance for our investors and partners.
Speaking on the extent of its coverage, Mr. Ammar confirmed that “we have in place a network roll-out strategy which will be to cover the entire geopolitical spectrum, of Nigeria in phases. This week, we will progressively go live in seven cities  Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Ogbomosho. Our aggressive network roll-out will continue swiftly to a second phase covering several other cities and enhancing coverage in already launched areas. As you all know, roll out is a continuous process from the first call to the 100th millionth and beyond.” I am extremely delighted to welcome Nigerians to a 74-million-strong global customer base across 17 countries in the world. Indeed Etisalat Nigeria is in a unique position to offer Nigerians competitive access to a world-class suite of Etisalat products and services covering extensive voice, based on innovative value added services.
The telecommunications giant also announced the introduction of its flagship product package called Easy Starter. This innovative pre-paid package offers several revolutionary features to the prevalent pre-paid experience. Easy Starter features the innovative tariff feature called Homezone which enables subscribers to choose the zone where they spend most of their time in order to enjoy lower call tariffs. Easty Starter also enables subscribers for the first time ever on a mobile network, to call collect, a feature which enables the receiver pay for the call. For the first time ever also, on Easy Starter, customers will be able to perform direct recharge of other Etisalat subscriber lines by IVR.
Mr. Woel Ammar noted that Easy Starter offers subscribers practical innovation, simplicity, unique tariff plan and friendly services. According to him, “with the East Starter prepaid package, you have the power to choose where and how to make the best at your airtime and talk time.”
Etisalat had made the first official call on its network on March 13, 2008 and had consistently reiterated it was in the process of rolling out a robust and stable network that will traverse Nigeria, starting with several cities. As part of the preparation for the commercial launch, Etisalat Nigeria offered prospective subscribers to the network of choice the opportunity to express their lifestyle and personality through its 0809uchoose campaign. The dynamic subscriber promotion was designed to empower Nigerians with free personalized numbers, free SIM cards and free monthly airtime for life. The free 3-in-1 package has of its core the company's desire to give the customer the best quality at the best price regime ever. Etisalat also confirmed that customers will be able to redeem the numbers they reserved immediately at various redemption centres.