As Etisalat Nigeria celebrates its third Anniversary in the country, its Chief Executive Officer, Steve Evans, spoke to reporters on the GSM operator's journey in Nigeria's telecommunications market as well as its prospects. Excerpts:The significance of the third anniversaryFor us at Etisalat, the third anniversary is an important milestone in the history of our company and a great opportunity to thank everyone who has made this possible ' our consumers, employees, dealers, partners, customers (distributors), regulators, governments, communities and all others whose support and contributions in various ways have made everything we do possible. We said to all those people that things would never be the same again and they have not been.There is a certain aura that accrues to an extraordinary quality or accomplishment when it is consistent. I think that is what people refer to, and rightly so, when they talk about the mystique of Etisalat.As a company with different innovative products and services, Etisalat has remained the ultimate picture of success in just three years of operation in Nigeria, growing its appeal to people across the geographical locations of the country, cultural, ideological or class divides at a speed that rarely any telecommunications company has been able to replicate. Yet, in doing this, Etisalat has remained constant in striving to provide world-class quality services.In Etisalat we see this third Anniversary as the beginning of our journey. We plan to offer more innovative voice and data services and even better customer care services and as always value for money spent by our esteemed customers. We are committed to further expanding our network and will continue to build over 1000 sites in both 2012 and 2013 bringing the benefits of Etisalat Nigeria to more and more people.Why we think we are succeeding in NigeriaI think that our success has been driven by a number of things.Firstly, it has been driven by the development of a clear strategy, which is based on putting the customer at the centre of our world. What that means is delivering them innovative products and services on the back of a high quality reliable network. Furthermore, we want to ensure that we operate efficiently as a business in order to offer our products and services at extremely competitive prices.In other words, let's give our customers innovative products and services that meet their needs, a reliable network and the best value possible.Secondly, to execute this strategy, we need to have a high-calibre management team and to grow the capacity of that team.Thirdly, a company culture that has a passion for excellence that is empowered, treasures teamwork and operates with complete integrity.On the Etisalat brandEtisalat is celebrating three years of providing world-class quality service with a clear commitment to enhancing people's lives as well. It is no secret that Etisalat has the unique distinction of being Nigeria's fastest growing network and the most innovative network in the country, and this is evident in the numerous awards we have received ' awards such as Most Innovative Mobile Operator by ICT Alliance in 2011 and Telecoms Innovative Company of the Year at the 7th Nigerian Telecoms Awards in 2011.At the corporate level, the success has been phenomenal. Etisalat Nigeria has network coverage in all the states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This great feat was achieved under a year and half of commercial operations and proof that our customers are at the heart of all we do.Beyond the business of telephony, Etisalat is a leader on Sustainability and an active citizen in the local communities where we operate. Our commitment to impacting the society positively is demonstrated through our CSR activities, which we started implementing even before making income ' an unprecedented achievement in the history of CSR in Nigeria.Etisalat's entry into Nigeria's telecom marketAs a company, we have invested heavily in Nigeria to grow our business and to enhance competition in the market. Nigerian consumers have benefited enormously and prices have fallen from 50k/s or 60k/s to 20k/s under Etisalat's leadership.
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