iConnect (September2013)

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Bayo Puddicombe

Co-Founder, Pledge 51

Steven Evans

CEO, Etisalat Nigeria

Obi Asika

CEO, Storm 360 Elinor Shields

Development Editor, BBC

iConnect September 2013

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I N T E R V I E W S

2 iConnect | September 2013

How are smartphones/tablets and cloud services impact-

ing mobile/internet service providers in Nigeria? Smart phone penetration is currently low possibly approaching

10% penetration, maybe less. However, most of these devices

readily connect to the internet via mobile operator data net-

works and are quite data hungry. As smart phone users gained

access to higher capacity mobile data networks (3G), some

have actually discarded their primary internet service providers

as data speeds from the mobile networks are beginning to com-

pare reasonably to what can be obtained from ISPs. This trend will possibly continue as more people adopt smart

phones as their primary mobile device.

In your opinion, which companies are spearheading in-

novation in the region and what can be learnt from

them?

Firstly, I would like to put things in context by saying that

innovation is relative. What is considered mundane in

developed markets could actually be quite innovative in another

context. My definition of innovation is combining technology/

tools from disparate fields and combining them in a way that

solves significant problems. With that said, I think Sproxils is doing some fantastic things

with SMS based technologies in providing drug verification

services.

Who are you most looking forward to meeting/hearing

from and what do you hope to achieve from taking part

in NigeriaCom?

I think just being at NigeriaCom would give us a fantastic

opportunity to meet with stakeholders across the mobile/digital

landscape.

www.pledge51.com

Com World Series: How is your company positioned in Nige-

ria and what are its future objectives?

Bayo Puddicombe: We are one of the pioneer mobile game/app

development companies operating in the Nigerian space. We

recently launched our mobile gaming community, Chopup, which

integrates all of our portfolio games and allows users to trade

achievements and points between content items. Our primary objective is to unleash the potential of African content

in the mobile gaming space.

What do you think are the top 3 major trends that are affect-

ing your business in the region in 2013? In no particular order, I would say that these are the top three

trends affecting the region; Faster data networks; Smart phone

penetration; Mobile payment systems

Although, we are already seeing the emergence of fast data net-

works, there’s still quite a way to go in getting the most out of our

data infrastructure. It would really go a long way in improving user

experience for data hungry games and applications.

Research shows that in most African countries, 2G networks will

have to be supported for quite a while due to a mobile device

distribution tilted more towards feature devices and dumb phones.

We do know that smart phones can take full advantage of the

possibilities offered by higher capacity data pipes, so as their

penetration increases there will be increased consumer demand for

high bandwidth and data capabilities.

Mobile payments is also a key link in the value chain and we expect

that in a before long, some of the mobile money providers will

finally unlock the magic formula for enabling m-commerce in

Nigeria. This could easily spurn the emergence of several

innovations in the local technology space.

What are the remaining challenges in terms of connectivity

and quality of services in the region and which technologies

are most likely to resolve these issues? Connectivity and quality of service has always been a major

challenge in Nigeria. The emergence of wireless data plans from

mobile operators made significant impact in bridging some service

to the region. However, it’s obvious that this is not sufficient to

address the data needs of an emerging market of this size.

What we really need is high-speed fibre-based connectivity straight

to homes, offices, businesses, etc in all major cities across the

country. Until then, we cannot have the right kind of infrastructure

to support this market.

Bayo Puddicombe

Co-Founder, Pledge 51

INTERVIEW 1

Welcome to the September 2013 edition of

iConnect. A major event for the month is the Nigeria

Com conference & exhibition , which takes

place at the Lagos Oriental Hotel [Nigeria],

17-18 September, 2013. We feature four interviews in which the Com

World Series team catches up with Nigeria

Com delegates to find out about their busi-

ness experiences, and expectations for the

country’s leading telecoms event.

As the economics of mobile markets shift, we see that

data is taking over voice as a highly commoditised

source of revenue. Mobile Network Operators [MNOs] desperately want to

avoid becoming so-called ‘dumb pipes’, as opposed to

‘smart pipes’ [offering unique services and content

beyond just bandwidth and network speed]. Mobile content providers, too, realise that the next killer

app is what consumers are after.

Enjoy the read.

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Com World Series: How is your company positioned in

Nigeria and what are its future objectives?

Steven Evans: When we launched commercial operations in

2008, we had one goal in mind – to turn around the telecoms

industry, exceeding every Nigerian’s expectation of what a

telecom organization should be. We went ahead to develop

Etisalat’ s business strategy based on four strategic elements –

Innovation, Quality of Service, Customer Focus and Efficiency/

Value for Money.

With these core pillars The Etisalat team operate on a daily basis

with an outstanding sense of Customer Centricity – this along

with Innovation (in products & services) has become the major

positioning of the brand.

The Etisalat brand has also enjoyed an amazing affinity with the

youth market to date and has a phenomenal percentage of its

base between the ages of 18 – 24. Moving forward, we intend to

continue to push this affinity with innovative products and

services that speak directly to our customers.

What do you think are the top 3 major trends that are

affecting your business in the region in 2013?

The top 3 trends here can only be summarised with the phrase

“Data, Data and more Data”!

As voice revenues level out, data, over well designed, well

deployed, well managed 3G networks, is the next frontier for

telecoms in Nigeria. Market growth in this 3G era is a major

focus with over 55% (nearly 8 Million) of our subscriber base

being data users.

This evolving behavior means the market, our customers need

data-driven propositions, tariffs, content and Apps that provide a

new and exciting communications experience. Recent launches

like our very popular EasyFlex tariff, an exclusive partnership

with award winning music App Spinlet and collaborations with

major device manufacturers for low cost smartphones all tick our

brand values of Innovation & Customer Focus ensuring improved

data usage on the network.

The quality of our network, and therefore our service, is the key

to unlocking the potential of our base and so we have a very

aggressive focus on utilising the best possible network solutions

to lead in this market.

How are Smartphones/tablets and cloud services impact-

ing mobile/internet service providers in Nigeria?

In comparison to markets in the West, Smartphone penetration

in Nigeria is relatively low at around 15%.

Key to driving the goals mentioned above will be the right device

choices for our customers. We recently launched a new, low-cost

Android Smartphone with Chinese device manufacturer, Techno.

This move puts more and more data-enabled devices in the

hands of the Nigerian Subscriber, driving our market

forward.

What are the remaining challenges in terms of

connectivity and quality of service in the region

and which technologies are most likely to

resolve these issues?

Power is the most disruptive issue for all mobile

operators in the region. The lack of a viable, existing

structure for power and fixed-line telecommunications

presents a huge challenge to network expansion and

improvement. Moving forward, efforts must focus on

feasible solutions to extend networks and

manage traffic in the absence of these basic

structures. Fibre, Wi-Fi and LTE will be key to

reaching the market’s full potential.

Who are you most looking forward to meeting/

hearing from and what do you hope to achieve

from taking part in NigeriaCom?

The concept of the event itself, bringing together the

ecosystem of the Nigerian telecommunications market

is an exciting one. Well done Informa! I’d have to say

I am certainly looking forward to hearing from our

Minister of Communications and the Regulator on how

they will continue to successfully collaborate on

driving this great success story. Inevitably, contribu-

tions from my operator peers will be insightful as we

increasingly team-up to face some of our shared

challenges. Finally, as this ecosystem expands, I’m

excited to understand how we can better serve our

client base with innovative partnerships on content

and mobile functionality.

www.etisalat.com.ng

INTERVIEW 2

Steven Evans

CEO, Etisalat Nigeria



Com World Series: How is your company positioned in

Nigeria and what are its future objectives?

Obi Asika: I am focused on content and the ability of mobile

to deliver across many segments, from education to music,

from movies to comedy and sports.

We have been in the forefront of validating authentic and

original Nigerian content and we want to be in the forefront of

monetising it, mobile is disrupting all the media industries

and in Nigeria we want to be amongst those early players

who are able to ride the changes and take advantage.

In this regard the importance of social media is key and one

will share insights from the inaugural Social Media Week

Lagos held in Feb 2013 and i believe that the advent of

e-commerce 2012-2 in Nigeria and the growth of cashless

banking and retail are all moving us forward to even more

reliance on mobile devices.

What do you think are the top 3 major trends that are

affecting your business in the region in 2013?

I think everybody is beginning to understand the importance

of local and relevant content, no point having 110m devices if

you cannot offer them unique experiences.

The increased speed of broadband is critical and one is

watching the advance of LTE, and firms such as Binu and

others who are focusing on the feature phones.

In Africa and Nigeria one must not get too carried away with

smart phones when 80% of the market is feature phones, but

must be prepared for this to turn around massively over the

next 18months

What are the remaining challenges in terms of connec-

tivity and quality of services in the region and which

technologies are most likely to resolve these issues?

Again as above the key issue now would be network capacity

and quality for the mno’s and then broadband access and

speed for consumers, it will be very interesting to see how

LTE plays out in Nigeria and of course as mentioned some of

the companies working on compression technology to enable

content be experienced on feature phones as well. We are

clearly moving into the era when Data will dominate all con-

versations and Nigeria is clearly in massive need of data ser-

vices and content.

How are smartphones/tablets and cloud services

impacting mobile/internet service providers in Nigeria?

At the elite level there is enormous adoption but these

numbers will still be small compared to the entire market.

However these tools are in the hands of managers,

entrepreneurs, and companies.

Soon i expect public institutions to become more automated.

It is interesting to see what states like Ekiti are doing with

their OPON_IMO educational project where they are providing

tablets to secondary school students, i think we will see a lot

happening with these devices and education and health

services delivery in Nigeria. I think this is a space everyone

needs to watch especially all the developers working on local

tablets but the key will be their ability to scale and move

forward to meet mass demand and perhaps challenge

established models.

In your opinion, which companies are spearheading

innovation in the region and what can be learnt from

them?

I think Etisalat, Samsung, Techno, Huawei, are amongst the

leaders in this regard and i think its about mindset and how

they penetrate and work with the local community and focus

on the needs and aspirations of their consumers and target

markets locally, those who make the effort to differentiate

their offerings for the local consumer is always likely to win in

any market.

I think brands such as mi-fone who are launching their

devices into this market should serve as a lesson for local

entreupeuners, they build their own brand and are now com-

peting, we cannot always be receivers of product surely.

In terms of content and services one must continue to watch

the various hubs especially CC Hub and some of the

outcomes.

I must mention Tony Elumelu Foundation and also Nokia who

supported the release of the Efiko app and again this is both

disruptive and innovative.

Who are you most looking forward to meeting/hearing

from and what do you hope to achieve from taking part

in NigeriaCom?

I think my primary interest is to engage and dig further into

the ecosystem to see how we can create better, stronger,

multi-purpose content that works on mobile and is relevant

for our primary audience, how we can do this and monetise it

and make it first national, then continental and finally global,

these are my primary objectives and i am keen to engage

and hear from all who have done this already and those who

are interested in the power of our content and by this i focus

on Nigerian content (from music to movies, from sports to

comedy, from motivational to religious, there is a huge

opportunity beckoning and i believe there are new models to

drive further investment and revenue opportunities for all the

stakeholders in the ecosystem.

INTERVIEW 3

Obi Asika

CEO, Storm 360

7 7 iConnect | September 2013



Com World Series: How is your com-

pany positioned in Nigeria and what

are its future objectives?

Elinor Shields: The BBC is the most

trusted and established international

public service broadcaster in Africa,

providing live radio, television and digital

services.

Some 96 million people in Africa

choose the BBC for news every week,

and we are strongly positioned to move

forward, as a leading digital news pro-

vider.

Our objective now and in the future is to

continue to provide independent and im-

partial journalism that people can find

and enjoy on their preferred choice of

platforms and devices.

What do you think are the top 3

major trends that are affecting your

business in the region in 2013?

The mobile opportunity in Nigeria is

significant for the BBC, given the

country’s mobile appetite and its position

in Africa, and with BBC Hausa a key

mobile-first digital market.

So the first major trend for us is that

more Nigerians than ever can consume

audio and video-rich content online,

thanks to the growth of digital data and

availability of enhanced devices.

However, increased competition in televi-

sion and radio makes it harder for audi-

ences to navigate the vast number of

a v a i l a b l e s e r v i c e s .

So in complex, fragmented markets,

audiences increasingly seek out the

brands they trust. Broadcasters in West

Africa are keener than ever to broadcast

BBC programmes on their channels and

stations.

What are the remaining challenges

in terms of connectivity and quality

of services in the region and which

technologies are most likely to

resolve these issues?

The incomplete roll-out of reliable mobile

data connectivity is still a big challenge.

Network congestion can result in a poor

user experience for video, audio and

other forms of enriched content, because

of the cost and length of download times.

At the BBC, we aim to optimise our

mobile offering to fit real-world condi-

tions, based on what our audiences tell

us. We are doing this through responsive

design that is adapted for features

phones up, and we are creating content

and embracing working practices which

work for the devices.

How are smartphones/tablets and

cloud services impacting mobile/

internet service providers in Nigeria?

Audience research tells us that feature

phones are still the dominant mobile

entry point in Nigeria, with a variety of

simpler handsets accounting for four-

fifths of current consumption.

So we need to ensure that both subscrib-

ers with feature phones and the increas-

ing pool of smartphone users can benefit

from our proposed enhancements. Our

responsive design strategy is built to

serve these complex realities.

In your opinion, which companies

are spearheading innovation in the

region and what can be learnt

from them?

It is a truism of entrepreneurship that

the best ideas often burst out from

groups combining a diverse range of

skills and expertise.

NigeriaCom is a great opportunity to

see that in action, with content and

service providers coming face to face

with network operators and manufac-

turers.

Who are you most looking for-

ward to meeting/hearing from

and what do you hope to achieve

from taking part in NigeriaCom?

As I mentioned above, it’s a terrific

opportunity to connect with every

dimension of mobile life in Africa,

which is why I’m so excited to be

making my first trip to Nigeria. I’m

looking forward to meeting represen-

tatives from every area, with my

African colleagues.

www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio

A NUMERIS-MEDIA Publication

Editor Editorial Assistants

Anne N. Agbakoba Elizabeth Okereke, Bukola Allison, Olusola DaCosta

Production Administration

Jean-Luc Atelier Michelle Bezomo

www.numeris-media.com | [email protected] | @numerismedia | +234 705 300 8894

INTERVIEW 4

Elinor Shields

Development Editor

BBC World Service


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iConnect (September2013)