MTN and GSM - Our company, our technology, all you want to know

1. What is GSM all about?
2. What about CDMA?
3. What Products does MTN Offer
4. How can I get one?
5. What is the cost implication?
6. What kind of handset do I need to use for the GSM?
7. Does the handset have conferencing facilities?
8. What about hold-on facility?
9. How many number(s) can the handset store at a time?
10. Can I access the Internet with it?
11. Still on the handset, what other value added services do I get? Services like time, weather forecast, airline schedule, etc?
12. Do you pay when receiving call on the GSM?
13. If I leave Lagos for Port Harcourt, do I have to adjust anything in the handset before I could be reached or reach out?
14. Is there any difference in tariff if I phone Lagos to Lagos and Lagos to Port Harcourt?
15. What about international calls?
16. If increase in tariff, why? Because it is a Global System? Is it not that the international calls should be the same with local calls after all, they were both made on the Global System?
17. Any difference in tariff in landline to mobile and mobile-to-mobile?
18. Can I receive messages clearly in enclosed environment?
19. What do you mean by roaming?
20. What are the benefits of GSM over others?
21. Why should I go for MTN and not others?
22. How many base stations do you have and how many would you require to be able to cover the country?
23. What is the position now with your recent proposal to interconnect the other PTOs (non-GSM) operators?
24. You are opening service centers around the country, what function do you have for your appointed dealers?
25. Would the switchgear in Lagos serve the entire country or you plan to have switchgears in other locations around the country?
26. Experts say that there is a danger of the whole telecommunications network becoming jammed. How true is this fear?
27. There is the fear that GSM is already obsolete as the world is now prepared to embrace the 3G technologies. How do you react to this?
28. How do you intend to handle a situation when you have demand than supply, as there are strong indications that demand will outstrip supply from day one?
29. What is your attitude to battering your product and services with media houses for space and airtime?
30. Are the MTN phones for the elites only, what hope for the poor?
31. How do your tariffs compare with what is obtainable in other neighboring African countries?
32. With the recent Government waivers on GSM equipment, should we expect this to be translated to lower tariffs?
33. GSM is said to be for everybody, how can the common man get one especially with the saying that common vulcanizers and motor mechanics use the products in neighboring countries?
34. How many Nigerians have you employed? What is the ratio to your expatriate staff?
35. How do you appoint dealers?

1 ISSUE: What is GSM all about?

2 ISSUE: What about CDMA?

3 ISSUE: What Products does MTN Offer

Solution:
We offer 2 products at the Moment: "Pay As You Go (PAYG)" and "Business Time".

PAYG: The easiest and fastest way to enjoy all the benefits of cellular communication.
Business Time: This is a contract package for business leaders where communication is a must

4 ISSUE: How can I get one?

Solution:
Walk into a service center or authorized distributor. You buy and get activated.

5 ISSUE: What is the cost implication?

Solution:
It depends on the product that you want. However, the connection fee is N20,000 (Twenty Thousand Naira).

6 ISSUE: What kind of handset do I need to use for the GSM?

Solution:
All you need is a GSM type-approved handset. There is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between European Telecommunications Services Institute who developed the GSM and handset producing companies like Ericson, Alcatel, Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, etc.

7 ISSUE: Does the handset have conferencing facilities?

Solution:
Yes. All of them have. It will not work only when there is network lock. However, as a rule, no MTN handsets are network-locked.

8 ISSUE: What about hold-on facility? Solution: The network generally provides this.

9 ISSUE: How many number(s) can the handset store at a time? Solution: This depends on the manufacturer. Normally 150 numbers can be stored on the phone and another 150 on the SIM card.

10 ISSUE: Can I access the Internet with it? Solution: Yes. Basically you need to have an Internet Service Provider. You need to set up a mobile data call from your handset to your laptop.

11 ISSUE: Still on the handset, what other value added services do I get? Services like time, weather forecast, airline schedule, etc? Solution: This is done through WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). With a content provision agreement signed with the provider of such information and the subscriber will not be surcharged.

12 ISSUE: Do you pay when receiving call on the GSM?

Solution:
No

13 ISSUE: If I leave Lagos for Port Harcourt, do I have to adjust anything in the handset before I could be reached or reach out?

Solution:
No. Nothing. Just simply switch the handset on.

14 ISSUE: Is there any difference in tariff if I phone Lagos to Lagos and Lagos to Port Harcourt?

Solution:
No. You pay the same.

15 ISSUE: What about international calls?

Solution:
Depending on where you call. There is different tariff for different zones.

16 ISSUE: If increase in tariff, why? Because it is a Global System? Is it not that the international calls should be the same with local calls after all, they were both made on the Global System?

Solution:
You pay more because you pass through international gateway to another GSM operator from the local one. This is so because you go on more network than local ones

17 ISSUE: Any difference in tariff in landline to mobile and mobile-to-mobile?

Solution:
No.

18. ISSUE: Can I receive messages clearly in enclosed environment?

You can receive calls in enclosed environment. That does not affect the quality. People leave enclosed environment in order to have confidentiality. Basically, MTN uses EFR (Enhanced Full Rate). It is one of the most advanced voice sampling techniques. That is what gives the superb voice quality. It has separation techniques. That is, it can separate background noise from the voice of the caller.

19. ISSUE: What do you mean by roaming?

It means you can use your MTN Nigeria SIM card in another GSM operator country which MTN Nigeria has negotiated a roaming agreement. Your bills in this foreign land will be settled locally on your account.

20. ISSUE: What are the benefits of GSM over others?

It is digital. That means your calls cannot be intercepted. It is also mobile.

21. ISSUE: Why should I go for MTN and not others?

Because of better quality, better network, more coverage, less dropped calls, better service centers as well as call centers (help lines) 180. MTN also guarantees you more effective tariff, which makes GSM more affordable especially with the booster card.

22. ISSUE: How many base stations do you have and how many would you require to be able to cover the country?

At the moment, we will be building 220 base stations by the end of March 2002. Approximately 4000 will be needed to cover the whole country.

23. ISSUE: What is the position now with your recent proposal to interconnect the other PTOs (non-GSM) operators?

We are interconnecting with more as possible. We are already interconnected with Mobitel, Multilinks, and Intercellular.

24. ISSUE: You are opening service centers around the country, what function do you have for your appointed dealers?

They complement one another. While dealers sell, the service centers sell and provide other services like attending to complaints of the people.

25. ISSUE: Would the switchgear in Lagos serve the entire country or you plan to have switchgears in other locations around the country?

The Lagos switchgear cannot serve the whole country. We are to increase the number of our switchgear in the country. Apart from Lagos, we also have in Abuja. Port Harcourt will follow and other areas of the country.

26. ISSUE: Experts say that there is a danger of the whole telecommunications network becoming jammed. How true is this fear?

No. It is not true. MTN will continue to extend the capacity on its own network. To ensure that the correct grade of service of two per cent is met. That means out of 100 calls, only two may be blocked.

27. ISSUE: There is the fear that GSM is already obsolete as the world is now prepared to embrace the 3G technologies. How do you react to this?

GSM is still the fastest growing technology. It continues to have new software releases and features. Developments on GSM is getting better and better. Currently, there is hardly any network in the world that is commercially being run on 3G. That is why 95 per cent of cellular network are using GSM.

28. ISSUE: How do you intend to handle a situation when you have demand than supply, as there are strong indications that demand will outstrip supply from day one?

MTN has put in capacity for 100,000 subscribers at launch. We are in the process of adding 100,000 capacity each month. That way we stay ahead of demand. So far demand is in line with our network build.

29. ISSUE: What is your attitude to battering your product and services with media houses for space and airtime?

A programme is being put together and will be available week commencing 17 September 2001.

30. ISSUE: Are the MTN phones for the elites only, what hope for the poor?

The first group to benefit from telecommunications services is generally businesses. They can see immediate returns from being more accessible to their customers and suppliers. As more business customers come onto the network, economies of scale will kick in the cost per subscriber down and the products will become more accessible to a wider range of people.

31. ISSUE: How do your tariffs compare with what is obtainable in other neighboring African countries?

Several countries in West Africa and neighboring Cameroon have higher tariffs than we do. Cameroon for instance charge N60 per minute. Others are slightly lower than us. Overall we're pretty much in the middle. It's also worth noting that the interconnect fee (what we pay NITEL) is N12 per minute in Nigeria and much lower in Ghana, Cameroon and other West African countries.

32. ISSUE: With the recent Government waivers on GSM equipment, should we expect this to be translated to lower tariffs?

We are yet to benefit from the waiver and have been paying full duty till today at the port (17 Sep). When we finally get the waiver it will not apply to all the equipment that is on the ground at the moment. So the impact will be minimal. However, in the future, we expect as we bring in more equipment it will have an impact.

33. ISSUE: GSM is said to be for everybody, how can the common man get one especially with the saying that common vulcanizers and motor mechanics use the products in neighboring countries?

There is much miscommunication about what happens in other countries. Neighboring Republic of Benin has only 64,000 GSM users in a population of 6.5 million. There is a similar level of penetration in other West African countries.

34. ISSUE: How many Nigerians have you employed? What is the ratio to your expatriate staff?

There are 244 permanent Nigerian employees. Thirty-nine (39) Nigerians are temporary. Forty-one (41) permanent expatriate positions are approved. Currently (4 September, 2001), there are 102 expatriates in the country.

35. ISSUE: How do you appoint dealers?

A lengthy evaluation of their business plans along with a 1.5 million Naira refundable commitment fee.

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