Nigeria GSM operators invade ISPs' corporate market

Traditional Internet service providers are losing their firm grip on Nigeria's corporate market, with a five-year deal for the provision of a WAN (wide area network) to support 89 up-country branches of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) recently awarded to telecommunications company MTN.

"The solution, which is the first of its kind to be adopted by any bank in Nigeria, will reduce turn around time, improve transaction speed and enhance customer satisfaction," said Olayinka Oni, FCMB's head of IT. "It will also impact on long-term increase in customer base and long-term profit."

The new MTN/FCMB deal could redefine Internet provision in corporate Nigeria, marking a major encroachment of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) operators into a market long dominated by traditional ISPs (Internet service providers) like 21st Century Technologies, DCC Satellite and Networks, Direct-on-PC, and Linkserve.

GSM operator Glo Mobile has also laid out plans to consolidate its market strength by entering the corporate sector to deliver WAN and Internet services to banks and oil companies.

"We are definitely going to sink our teeth in there where the big corporate players are," said Mohammed Jameel, chief operating officer of Globacom, which owns Glo Mobile.

"Banks and the oil industry are heavy consumers of communications," explained Fola Odufuwa, former CEO of eShekels, a Lagos research and market data services company. "Banks alone consume close 30 percent of the country's communication services. It is a major market no serious telecommunications company will want to ignore."

But some ISPs claim that competition from MTN and Glo Mobile will only make the market more exciting.

"We are not afraid of competition. We have been in the market much longer and understand what it means to ensure a fulfilling customer experience to our clients," said DCC managing director Phillip Obiora. "It is not just about the technology, but also about the manpower and the experience. We know this market more than our new competitors."

"We have seen competitors come and gone," added Wale Ajisebutu, executive vice chairman of the 21st Century. "We have always focused on our strength in the market, and what we have given in the last few years to our growing clients has remained the best in the industry. People don't jump from service that is reliable, prompt and sustainable."