Globacom unveils
mobile Internet today
Shina Badaru,
IT.Telecom Editor
Globacom will today
begin the commercial operation of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) on its
cellular business unit, Glo Mobile.
GPRS technology
enables Global System for Mobiles (GSM) networks to carry non-voice traffic
ranging from data to Internet access.
Daily
Independent learnt that today’s launch, which will be performed by
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in Lagos, scores another first for Globacom,
which entered the telecom market one year ago with the launch of its switch on
August 29, 2003 in Abuja.
Company sources
said Glo Mobile would also be offering subscribers on its contract service a
one-month free access to the service, which was becoming popular for providing
connectivity for mobile users.
Glo Mobile would be
the pioneer GSM network in the country to offer the service beating South
Africa’s MTN Communications Limited, which has already set up a business
unit internally devoted to the service as part of its bid to unveil GPRS before
the end of this year.
However, MTN
alongside rival cellular operators, Vodacom and Cell C currently provided GPRS
services to their subscribers in South Africa.
Analysts reckoned
that operators were exploring new revenue channels in the value added GPRS
route, which allowed information to be sent and received across a mobile phone
network and meet the needs of increasingly sophisticated users wanting
connectivity on the move.
The company is yet
to provide details of the pricing formula for the new service.
