By Dayo Oketola

Thursday, 2 Dec 2010

Etisalat Nigeria has acquired Alheri Mobile Services Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of the Dangote Group and a recipient of a 3G licence from the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Speaking in Lagos on Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans, said that, with the acquisition, the telecoms operator would now have access to a 3G licence like the other three GSM companies in the country.

Evans, who did not disclose the worth of the deal, said, “We are delighted to acquire the 3G licence, which is an essential element of our plans for further developing the market for mobile broadband in Nigeria. We have placed a strong emphasis on offering data services to all our customers.

“Now, with 3G, we can further develop our data and mobile broadband portfolio and offer our customers even higher levels of service. There is pent-up demand in Nigeria for broadband and we intend to be leaders in satisfying it.”

According to the Etisalat boss, the GSM operator has plans for a $400m expenditure for 2011, and $50m out of this will be spent on the 3G equipment.

He noted that the company did not acquire the licence but “acquired the company that has the licence.”

The 3G network service, according to Evans, will be rolled out in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja very soon, while other parts of the country will be covered in 2011.

Commenting on the transaction, the Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem Bello-Osagie, said, “We are very happy with the acquisition of the 3G licence and with the professional way in which the negotiations were led by Mr. Aliko Dangote and his team. We look forward to further cooperation in the future.”

The Managing Director, Alheri Mobile, Mr. Boye Olusanya, said, “It makes sense for us to sell Alheri Mobile to Etisalat Nigeria as we believe that the market here can only sustain four mobile operators in the medium to long-term.

“We intend to use the capital raised to develop our other assets in the telecommunications market and we look forward to deepening our relationship with Etisalat.”

Source: Punch