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New M-TEL chairman bemoans
state of affairs
By Tom Chiahemen
Senior
Correspondent,
Abuja
The new Chairman of the Board
of Directors of the Nigerian Mobile Telecommunications Limited (M-TEL),
Hajiya Halita Aliyu (MFR), has described the story of the company as one
of lost opportunities, leaving the organisation severely challenged and at
the crossroads.
Hajiya Aliyu, who lamented on
Thursday while receiving members of the Senate Committee on Communications
at the company�s corporate headquarters, Abuja, acknowledged the concerns
expressed by Nigerians over the performance of M-TEL, especially as they
relate to the network, lost market shares and revenues that are not in
tune with industry standards.
To compound matters for the
company, she said M-TEL had unpaid debts of over N6 billion, the bulk of
which were owed by government agencies.
She told members of the Senate
Committee who were on over sight visit that there were other challenges
the company was facing through the initial roll-out, with the deployment
of base stations across the 36 states in the country. �Whereas MTN has 68
base stations in Kano and 42 in Kaduna, M-TEL has 13 in Kano and six in
Kaduna. The result of this has been the very epileptic or limited service
that is being experienced in several locations of M-TEL�s operations,� she
disclosed.
On how the company was hoping
to get on top of the problems, she suggested the swapping/relocation of
base stations to improve on network coverage and availability, especially
in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu and Kaduna which accounted for 65% of the GSM
revenues in 2004. �We need your support in redressing this and
capitalizing on the assets that we have by concentrating on the most
lucrative and viable markets for now and covering other locations within
the shortest time possible,� she told the Committee.
Responding, the Chairman of
the Committee, Senator Baba Tela, recalled that the Committee had had
cause in the past to summon the Management of M-TEL over the growing
public dissatisfaction with the company�s poor performance.
He pledged that the Committee
would liaise with the Ministry of Finance and the Senate to explore the
possibility of having the N6 billion debts owed the company built into the
2005 budget for settlement.
Other members of the Committee
on the visit were Senators Abubakar S. Mohammed (Vice-Chairman), Prof.
Daniel Saror, Iyiola Omisore and Sani Sami.
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