Globacom has been commended by the Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, for liberalising the country’s telecommunications space.

The Minister who made the remark when he paid a courtesy call on the Management of the company at the Mike Adenuga Towers, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Monday said the company revolutionized telecom services in the country by making GSM services available to the vast majority of Nigerians.

The Minister added that Globacom’s entry also led to introduction of series of innovations in the Nigerian telecom industry. “Nigeria owes a debt of gratitude to Glo and we shall support you until you become an Octopus on the African continent. Given what you have done in Nigeria, I am not surprised that Glo is conquering Africa now. I urge you to continue to play your role, and Africa will continue to show appreciation to you for liberating the space for telecommunication services,” Barrister Shittu stated.

Making a case for coverage of emerging rural areas, the Minister said, “There are so many new settlements around where GSM connectivity is not available at all and people still have to travel long distances. I appeal to Glo to investigate this very quickly and take steps to remedy the situation. This may not be peculiar to Ikorodu; I know that many new communities are growing in leaps and bounds and such situations exist.

“I am happy with the giant strides you have made in continental inter-connectivity of cables across the Atlantic. I want to commend you on this, and I believe that, having succeeded with continental inter-connectivity, within Nigeria there are still challenges in many communities. There is need for you to make more investments to ensure that the entire country is connected,” added Shittu.

Barrister Shittu also urged Globacom to support connectivity centres and technological hubs government is building in Ibadan and Katsina and the rest coming up later in Bayelsa and Plateau as well as in other states across the country.

“Sustainability is always the problem after the first period of free internet. Please see what you can do to support the establishment and sustainability of such hubs,” the minister said.

In his welcome remark, Head of the Globacom delegation, Mr Adewale Sangowawa, stated that the introduction of per second billing in 2003 by Glo restored fading hopes in the telecom, industry in addition to crashing the cost of acquiring SIMs from N20,000 to as low as N100.

“According to the International Telecommunications Union, the revolution in the Nigerian telecoms industry is due principally to Globacom’s push and the ingenuity of government to deregulate the telecoms sector. Nigeria today boasts of over 100% teledensity, and over 150m active telephone lines,” he said.

“Beyond the statistics, however, is the massive contribution this proudly Nigerian network with global footprints has made in transforming social, educational and business life in the country. From multimedia messaging service to mobile internet, mobile banking, tele-conferencing, vehicle tracking, e-learning and other innovations, Globacom has ensured that Nigerians enjoy the benefits of technological advances available elsewhere around the world by pioneering the introduction of such services in the country,” Mr Sangowawa added.