FreeLists / gsmtoday / [GSMToday] September 29 2006 - MTN vs Celtel: Who Made THE FIRST GSM CALL in Nigeria?

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               Nigeria's FIRST GSM Newsletter
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            A Fr-ee Weekly E-zine Newsletter By 
           Wonderful Counselor Nigeria Limited   
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Volume 5, Issue 22                  September 29 2006
Editor: Sagai "CoolApostle" Adam    Subscriptions:  1,202
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   MTN vs Celtel: Who Made the First GSM Call In Nigeria?
                      By CoolApostle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Welcome to another exciting 
B-a-t-t-l-e of the Giants in the 
Nigerian GSM space. 

On the left corner, weighing in 
at over 7 million subscribers 
is... the network that 
makes life better ... C-e-l-t-e-l

And on the right corner, 
weighing in at 9.6 million 
subscribers... is the network 
that is everywhere you go... M-T-N

Today?s monumental encounter 
will be to decide 
WHO MADE THE FIRST GSM CALL IN NIGERIA.

As always, this clash-of-the-decade 
is being handled by
the impartial, 
the neutral, 
the unbiased, 
the independent, 
the objective and fair 
our Referee... G-S-M Today."



INTRO
=====

Who made the FIRST GSM call? 

Was it MTN or Econet Wireless?

These two GSM networks that have been contesting the prize 
since 2001 and we will finally settle the matter today.



MTN?S CLAIM
===========

MTN Nigeria's many claims are given below.


From an article at http://www.mobileafrica.net:

"MTN, MADE THE FIRST GSM CALL in 
the aftermath of the February 2001 
issuance of digital mobile licenses, 
on May 16, 2001. 

Thereafter, it launched commercial 
operations in August of the same 
year, beginning with Lagos, Abuja 
and Port Harcourt."



From an article at http://www.tmcnet.com:

"But in spite of these and other 
frustrations, it's gladdening to 
note that the operators have soldiered 
on and the cumulative contribution 
of the sector to the National 
Treasury is estimated at N200 billion 
since THE FIRST GSM CALL WAS MADE 
ON MTN NETWORK IN 2001"



From the MTN Nigeria page at the International Finance 
Corporation website:

"MTN Nigeria COMMENCED OPERATIONS 
on May 16, 2001 as THE COUNTRY?S 
FIRST GSM NETWORK."



From an article in Media Rights Agenda:

"At an impressive event on May 16, 
the Chairman of MTN Nigeria Limited, 
Mr. Pascal Dozie, MADE THE 
COUNTRY'S MAIDEN GSM TELEPHONE 
CALL to the company's managing 
Director, Karel Pienaar. 

In the call, Mr. Dozie congratulated 
Mr. Pienaar on the development 
and asked when MTN would make 
GSM commercial services available 
to Nigerians. 

No categorical answer came from 
the other end of the line."



CELTEL?S COUNTER-CLAIMS
=======================

Here are Celtel's claims (as Econet Wireless).


From the Celtel website:

" Trading then as Econet Wireless Nigeria, 
made history on August 5, 2001 by becoming 
THE FIRST COMPANY TO LAUNCH COMMERCIAL 
GSM SERVICES IN NIGERIA."



From an article in ThisDAY online:

"Econet has been telling it on the 
mountain that it was THE FIRST NETWORK 
THAT MADE THE FIRST GSM CALL in Nigeria. 
For this reason, it has as part of 
its tag line: "The First, the Preferred."



A quote from an article in  Mobile Tech News:

"Demand for our cellular service has 
been very strong since August 2001 when 
WE WERE THE FIRST OPERATOR TO BEGIN 
GSM SERVICE IN NIGERIA," said Zachary Wazara,



SO WHO IS RIGHT?
================

MTN Nigeria's claims have one major flaw:
They seem to be saying that before the call made in May 
2001, there HAD NEVER BEEN a GSM call before. 

Not true.

There was a GSM network in Abuja since 1999.

In preparation for the World Youth Championship in 1999, LM 
Ericsson had installed a demonstration GSM network with 
1,000-line Mobile Switch for Nigerian Telecommunications 
Limited (NITEL). It was installed and used for the 
competitions in Abuja.

This means that as at May 2001, 1,000 lucky people in Abuja 
had been using GSM technology for two years. 

(Another company called Motophone had also been given a 
mobile license by the NCC and had put GSM equipment in 
place in Lagos State. The Licenses were to be operational 
in 1999 but were all cancelled in preparation for the 
Digital mobile Licenses in 2001.)

The call made by the MTN Nigeria Chairman Mr. Pascal Dozie, 
and Managing Director, Karel Pienaar on May 6th 2001 was 
nothing more than a demonstration of GSM. 


DOES A DEMO COUNT?
==================

So -literarily speaking- the FIRST GSM CALL was in Abuja in 
1999 by some unknown Ericsson Engineer.

(While there was probably an official commissioning, we 
cannot get the full details.)

But, it was a demonstration network and there was no 
billing.

Today, Glo Mobile and Celtel have all demonstrated 3G 
capabilities. Can any of them claim to be "the first to 
make a 3G call in Nigeria"?

Until the Nigerian Communications Commission gives out the 
third-generation licenses, no one can claim the prize for 
rolling-out the "first 3G network in Nigeria".

So, here are MTN Nigeria's weaknesses:

>> The May 16th call was a demonstration
>> No customer bought and used a SIM card on that day
>> GSM technology was available in Nigeria BEFORE May 2001


AND THE WINNER IS...
====================

And so, if we must give a prize, we have to consider the 
brilliant move by Celtel. 

On August 6 2001, two days to the official roll-out date, 
they made their public announcement: they were l-i-v-e.

>> The August 6th calls were not demos
>> Customers could buy lines the next day
>> The company has been live since that day

Therefore, the prize for the "first GSM network in Nigeria" 
goes to... Celtel.




LINKS TO QUOTED ARTICLES
========================

MORE ON THE HISTORY OF GSM IN NIGERIA
http://www.mail-archive.com/gsmtoday@xxxxxxxxxxxxx/msg00178.html

MTN NIGERIA PROMISES BETTER DEAL AT KADUNA FAIR
http://www.mobileafrica.net/n113.htm

MANY FRUSTRATIONS OF GSM
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2005/nov/1211560.htm

MTN NIGERIA PROFILE @INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/aids.nsf/Content/MTN_Nigeria

MEDIA RIGHTS MONITOR, JUNE 2001. VOL. 6 NO. 6
http://mediarightsagenda.org/mrm2001/MRM%20June%202001.pdf 

INTERCELLULAR: MIMICKING ECONET
http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/10/04/20031004cam03.html

ABOUT US-WELCOME TO CELTEL IN NIGERIA
http://www.ng.celtel.com/en/about-us/index.html

ECONET AWARDS MOTOROLA GSM CONTRACT IN NIGERIA 
http://www.mobiletechnews.com/info/2002/07/23/140402.html



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