Thibaud Weick, Group Chief Commercial Officer, Smile Communications
Nigeria, is a strong advocate of internet technology. His company
provides the 4G LTE service, running on the 800 megahertz frequency,
which he argues would soon become the only network of choice for
millions of internet users in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. He may
not be far from the truth as the 4G LTE, which covers two ground
breaking technologies, 4G (meaning the fourth generation of data
technology for mobile networks) and LTE (Long Term Evolution) has been
found to deliver probably the fastest high speed data service available
today. The French man recently had this chat with
Daily Sun to
unveil the unique aspects of the Smile range of internet services, which
he says is rapidly making giant in-road into the country’s internet
market due to its speed and efficiency.
Excerpt:
Smile range of internet services in Nigeria
We decided to come to Nigeria because it is the most important
market on the continent. It is the fastest growing economy in Africa
and with broadband access to the internet and the quality of internet
services we can provide, we are in a unique position to support that
growth. Not only to benefit from the growth, but to be instrumental to
that growth by deploying broadband, super fast, super-reliable access
to the internet in Nigeria. And there are some statistics from the World
Bank when in a developing country you increase the broadband internet
penetration. That has an impact on GDP growth. So what we are doing in
effect is actually to enable that growth through the provision of our
unique type of internet service.
Your services
Simply put, we deliver internet the way it is planned and meant to
be. So, what I experience in Nigeria myself before the Smile range of
services were rolled out was a lot of frustration, sharing files with
colleagues working elsewhere. There were lots of frustration in general
using the internet because of the low level of technology and
infrastructure to power it. But that is not what internet is supposed to
be. For those of us who travel a lot, especially out of the shores of
the country, in most developed parts of the world, Europe or America,
what you experience is a world of super fast, super-reliable,
cost-effective internet services adequately backed up by the very
latest in internet technology. That is what we are delivering, exactly
the way it should be.
Unique selling point
We are bringing the latest technology available, not only in Africa
or Nigeria but generally available in the developed world to deliver
access to the internet. And we run on 4G LTE technology in the 800
Megahertz band which is the standard used in Europe and the United
States and this is the global standard we’ve now brought to Africa. That
means we are bringing the very latest into the market. You can’t get
anything better in London today than what obtains in Lagos, for
instance. Ditto for New York or anywhere else in the advanced countries
of the world. So we are using the latest technology, which we simply
refer to as the technology of the future. Tell you what, the entire
ecosystem is rallying around that technology, our partners, the network,
in China, South Korea and elsewhere are now using the device in their
tablets, smart phones, ipads, iphones, etc. So there’s a lot of positive
development. It’s the next growth wave in the industry and we are ahead
of that wave. And we are bringing that into Nigeria before many other
places in the world.
Performance in Nigeria’s market so far
We are very happy with the development. We have received a lot of
very positive feedback, an obvious indication of the giant inroads we
are presently making in the Nigerian market. Now, these feedbacks
coming from our subscribers, partners and colleagues in the industry
praising our services is an ample testimony of our ground breaking
strides already in the internet market in Nigeria. I should say these
commendations are fuelling the ambitious plans we have for the market in
the future.
Going nationwide
I assure you that it will happen in the second half of this year, and
even more in 2015. For now, we are ensuring that we gain a solid
foothold in Lagos and Ibadan, the two major cities we have already
covered, before moving elsewhere. That is why we have concentrated so
much attention on Lagos, being the country’s number one commercial city
with millions of internet users. At the last count, we have reached 60
per cent subscribers’ level in Lagos. In no time at all, we plan to
cover the whole city before hitting Abuja, the country’s capital and
Port Harcourt in the South.
How to stimulate interest in your services
Well, we do engage in some promotions once in a while. Especially
during the last Easter celebrations, we rolled out a special Easter
bundle, which ran from Thursday to Easter Monday night solely for our
customers to enjoy throughout the festive period. Like I said, it was
just for that period. We have, however, avoided a situation where we
would be making promotions a habit. Besides, it is not sustainable for
the business in the long run. And if it is not sustainable for the
business, it is not sustainable for the customers either. So, we are not
competing on price-saving promotions, we are competing on the quality
of experience and of our services.
Competition
No, I don’t think so. Because some of the unique characteristics of
the technology we are deploying have been designed and optimised for
data traffic. At the early stage of worldwide internet acceptance and
use, the 3G LTE had been thought to be novel and advanced. But nowadays,
with the arrival of the 4G LTE on 800MHZ technology, that is just
becoming obsolete. The difference is that the 4G LTE is far more
advanced, faster and capable of carrying more data. Simply put, for
this modern era, anywhere in the world, it is really the best you can
get in terms of efficiency and capacity. Specifically, what we offer on
your frequency band – 800MHZ – is far more superior to what most
internet users in Nigeria, and even elsewhere in Africa are accustomed
with. We have far better indoor penetration than any of the existing
frequency bands. With the 4G LTE you don’t need to do what people in
Nigeria refer to as the “signal patrolling” to find something on the
window. That is not necessary because our signals go deep indoors.
The other advantage is that you have a wider geographical coverage
with just one base station. Now, the capacity of one base station or
unit is 10 times higher than what you have on 3G LTE so that in a
nutshell, it is unique, the only technology available today to deliver
internet the way internet was meant to be. And to quickly answer the
question you posed on the potential pitfalls ahead considering the
peculiar challenges in those parts, I should say absolutely not. We have
a system of constantly monitoring in place per second to gauge the
market in order to be constantly ahead of the demands.
Nigeria infrastructure challenges
Tell me anywhere in the world, even in the more advanced countries of
the world, where there are no challenges? The fact of life is that
there will always be challenges in every human endeavour but the
essential thing for anyone is to always find a way to surmount these
challenges and forge ahead. Our driving passion here at Smile is the
future. We have projected into the future and are immensely driven by
the prospects buried in it. On a personal note, even though I am not an
African by origin, I made a personal decision to come here, starting
with Egypt and the other places I went, that I will work assiduously to
be a part of the new age of IT professionals who will drive the economy
of the country to its desired heights through the provisions of an
internet broadband service yet unrivalled in these parts.
So far, with the response of subscribers in the short time we have
been here, I am convinced that, that future is assured. I came to
Nigeria the first time two years ago and I was amazed by the enterprise
and energy of the people especially here in Lagos. Again, I found the
quality, both mentally and professionally, of the people I was working
with quite impressive.
Compared to other places I have worked, I find Nigerians very
hardworking, very forward-looking people. So with that kind of human
capital and potential, it cannot go wrong. Now, there are political
issues, as well as security challenges but I am sure it is the job of
the government to deal with it. I know it is not going to be easy but
with more commitment and support coming from the people, the government
can surmount all of these problems.
Coping with demand across Nigeria
The best way I think we can cope is to continually invest in both the
human capital, infrastructure and the technology. We have very
financially strong shareholders supporting the company and they have a
long-term commitment to maintain this level of support for the company.
And we do have a roll out plan. In that roll out plan, we also have not
only geographical expansion but a built-in capacity in the area in
which we operate to facilitate quick response to customer demands. All
this is to ensure that there’s no degradation in the customer
experience. So everything in our business is to support geographical
expansion and capacity enhancement in the areas where demands become
very strong. So that everyone gets exactly what he is paying for and
what he wants.
Coping with challenges of power outages and access to capital.
On the issue of access to capital, I should say we are very
comfortable with the strong financial backing we are getting like I
said, from our shareholders. So, we have no problem with that. On the
power issue, I would like to say power outages are not peculiar to
Nigeria. Take the example of the telecommunications industry in Africa,
which had to be quite ingenuous to navigate the problem. Same way we
have had to partner experienced power/energy providers to operate our
systems. So we have everything in place to forestall a possible break in
power supply.
Investment in IT infrastructure
I can’t tell you off hand the number of base stations we must have to
guarantee effective services in say, Lagos, but I can tell you this
much, where Etisalat and the other networks, which operate on the 3G
LTE, for instance, would need four base stations, we would need just one
– that is, a ratio of one to four. And like I said previously, we
operate 10 times more capacity than the conventional 3G. So, to get the
coverage, one for four and in terms of capacity, 10 times more is one
base station.
First, I want to disagree with you that the 4G LTE internet
technology is very expensive to deploy. Yes, it is a significant
investment but is not as expensive as you make it out to be. The 4G LTE
is the most cost-effective internet technology available because it is
optimised for data.
How to win Nigerian customers
Seeing is believing. And word of mouth is extremely powerful.
Therefore, follow up strategy is about the experience, we deliver the
best internet experience in the market, and this is what we sell. We
tell our customers we ‘give them super fast, super-reliable’ internet
services, they try it our and are instantly bought over. The next thing
is that they tell their friends, family about it. Those in turn use it
and are also hooked. Then it goes on and on. That has been our strategy.
We don’t compromise on quality at all.
Manpower
We have very few experts in the company. And if you go around into
our offices to look for the foreign experts, I can assure you they are
not a lot. Most top positions in our company are occupied by Nigerian
experts, and where you have a foreigner occupying a top management
position, we have a succession plan in place for a Nigerian to
eventually succeed him after a certain period of understudy.
Who are your target customers?
Our target cuts across all of these cadres you have mentioned. We
target companies, individuals and everyone who wants to use internet
services that Smile provides. However, it is a little rare for now to
see ordinary folks using our services because they seldom can afford
the devices, which make their usage possible. Let’s be true to
ourselves. Only few people can afford iphones, ipads, smart phones and
all the devices that could necessitate the use of our services. But we
hope to win this segment of the populace to Smile once the economy
improves to such a level that they can afford these devices.
Competition from your rivals in the market
We are coping just fine because no one is offering the kind of
services we offer. Seeing is believing. By comparison, we are far ahead
of our competitors in the market because of the kind of advanced
technology we deploy.
Presently we have bundles from 500megabytes up to 200gigabytes which
can be used 24/7. We also introduced in March, leading up to the Easter
holidays, Smile nighttime, weekend bundles specifically designed for
use in the night and at weekends. I think what will be the most
significant step forward in the future will be to introduce Voice SMS.
The reason we haven’t yet introduced it in these parts is because the
devices to sustain it are not yet widely available in West Africa.
Competing in the Voice market
Yes, I think we can. On a 4G LTE network, a voice call is like a data
call. Since it is exactly the same, I don’t think we would have to
change too radically to accomplish it.
The future
I would like to see in the not too distant future, Smile broadband
services becoming the first choice for internet users in Nigeria, and by
extension, in all of Africa.
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Nigeria needs efficient ICT platform to sustain GDP growth
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