RelTel eyes funding from private offer

RELTEL is to embark on a private placement programme
(PPP) soon to increase its financial chest to ensure
speedy expansion Nigeria's increasingly competitive
telecom sector.

The PPP would facilitate availability of long term
funds from private investors and prepare the company
for a planned future entry the stock market for a
public offer.

"The company wants to end the hot, short term
expensive funds to improve its profitability and
position as one the country's leading
telecommunications companies," said Kieran Enechi,
company legal secretary and head of corporate affairs.

RELTEL is currently expanding its network in Lagos and
several other Nigerian cities. Expansion work is being
carried out by Swedish equipment vendor Ericsson.

Network glitches experienced earlier this year left
the private telecom operator (PTO) in turmoil with
some subscribers cut off the national network for
weeks.

But the network has since recovered with technical
problems resolved by Ericsson. A new market onslaught
has been launched and nicknamed RAVE which offers
subscribers a phone entry cost of N6,000.

It is a near 50% cut on the lowest entry cost for
fixed wireless phones and re-enacts RELTEL's
revolution in the sector about three years ago when
the PTO first entered the market. It cut the entry
cost for phones by about 100% bringing price to as low
as N44,000 from the common industry's price of N98,000
to N100,000.

The effects were astounding. RELTEL got a rewarding
high patronage from the market to became one of the
top three players in less than four months of
launching service. It also turned the heat against
other PTOs.

Other PTOs have since crashed prices. Now, market
prices oscillates between N12,000 to N21,000. With
RAVE, RELTEL wants to repeat history.

"We have a corporate philosophy to serve the mass
market with good quality service at the lowest price,"
Said Enechi in Lagos to IT Edge. [Full interview
available in coming edition of IT Edge magazine due
for market from Sept 23, 2004]   More…..

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