Glo: In Pursuit of Value for Subscribers

Festus Akanbi writes on new array of products recently dished out by Globacom as competition heats up in the industry

As average revenue per user (ARPU) continues to decline in the telecommunications industry, operators are increasingly looking inwards with a view to deepening the value added and data offerings to enhance earnings.

Subscribers on their part are also getting more and more sophisticated, with demands shifting beyond efficient and reliable voice calls and text messaging. The onus is thus on operators to develop even more compelling value propositions to delight their customers and retain their patronage.

No operator seems to understand this much more than the indigenous telecoms operator, Globacom. On launch in August 2003, the company made a definitive statement as the leader in innovation with the pioneering of Per Second Billing in Nigeria.

It quickly followed this with the launch of a series of value added services which have assisted the growth of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria in the last ten years. The services included Mobile Banking, Mobile Internet, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and Nigeria’s first vehicle tracking service called GloFleetmanager.

In 2006, Glo lived up to its rating as the most innovative network in the industry with the launch of the revolutionary BlackBerry services.

Ten years down the line, the indigenous telecom operator has continued to dictate the pace in value creation. A few weeks ago, Glo invited the media for a product demonstration. It turned out to be a product fair as the journalists were regaled with not two or three, but 10 innovative product offerings. Ten new value offerings being rolled out in one fell swoop! The message was clear: Glo remains the leader of innovation in Nigeria’s telecommunications space.

The products which were meant to improve the quality of life of subscribers included Glo Family and Friends Finder, Glo Medicare, Glo Mobile Newspaper, Glo Directory, Glo Borrow Me Credit, Glo Security Tips, Glo Love Zone, Glo Property Tips, Glo Daily Inspiration and Glo Legal Tips.

They were all very unique offers, but perhaps the one that caught the fancy of ICT editors and Glo ambassadors at the event, WAJE, Naeto C, Bez, Chee, and Omawumi, was the Family and Friends Finder. It is a security service that enables friends, family, employers and employees to locate one another anytime, anywhere around the country.

Many of the journalists and the ambassadors were keen to see how it worked and they were duly answered by Manorath Shukla of the Marketing Communications Department who took them through it.

With the Glo Family and Friends Finder, a subscriber can keep tabs on the movement of anyone at any time anywhere in Nigeria. All a subscriber has to do is to send the text “find” followed by the telephone number of the person to be found to a short code.

The platform will alert the person to be found also by SMS and he has the option of saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the request to find him. If he replies ‘No’, that is the end of the exercise. But if he replies ‘Yes’, his location will be instantly communicated to the person trying to find him. Each request is charged at N50 per SMS, whereas the response is free.

There was a gale of excitement as the ICT writers and the Glo brand ambassadors took turns to experience the service right there in the hall. Everyone whipped out their phones and followed the instructions dished out by Shukla. A few of the Glo ambassadors sought to find one another, while the majority of the people in the hall wanted to find Shukla. Replies were instantly sent to their phones with the description of where the person they were trying to locate was.

Shukla explained that the service could be utilized through any phone with capability to send and receive SMS, and through internet-enabled phones. This second version is by far the most accurate and dramatic. This is because the online platform is enhanced with a map, such that the result of the ‘Find’ command is accompanied by a map and an indicator showing precisely where to locate the person being sought. It was a wow moment for the brand ambassadors and the ICT writers in the hall.

Globacom’s Coordinator, Marketing, Niyi Olukoya, said that there were many situations that this service could prove invaluable. “If you have children, staff, friends, relatives you need to keep tabs on, this service will be very useful. There is a good chance of closing in on the area where kidnappers are holding a victim who has a Glo Friend and Finder link. It just takes any of the relatives or friends to track him on the network, using the already established link. The victim does not need to do anything. He will not even know anyone is tracking him. This is because the person to be tracked does not need to give consent a second time. Once he gives consent the first time, he can be found without any consent being sought or provided again,” Olukoya explained.

Another product of interest at the demonstration was Glo Service Directory which offers subscribers access to key information and contact details of millions of business organizations such as hospitals, restaurants, police stations, government offices, workshops, banks, schools, hotels, etc.

Another Globacom executive, Himanshu Sarbhai, showcased this to the audience. Explaining how to use the service, he said subscribers seeking information about an organization only needed to call 7411 via their mobile phones or fixed lines and then mention their specific area of interest.

“The calls are established on the Glo network and forwarded to the Clearing House, which in turn will process the information through the appropriate channels and revert to the caller promptly with the required information over the phone,” he said.

To put the service to test, WAJE dialled up 7411 and put it on speaker phone. A female voice promptly inquired what WAJE would like the service to do for her. WAJE made inquiries about domestic servants and the information she sought was provided instantly.

There was also Borrow Me Credit, a service that enables prepaid subscribers to receive advance airtime when they have exhausted their airtime and they cannot easily get recharge card to replenish it due to non-availability of vendors. Subscribers can later pay back when they replenish their airtime. The initial denominations available are N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000.

Glo also showcased Glo Medicare, an SMS-based service which provides subscribers regular information on a wide range of health and wellness issues, including how to manage various diseases or health conditions and how to prevent them.

Another product showcased was Glo Mobile Newspaper (Glo M-Paper) through which users can access news as it is happening while on the go through SMS news alerts. Subscriber needs a basic handset with Glo Mobile’s network connection. They need to dial a short code and select the newspaper of their choice among the ones in service.

Glo also showcased Glo Daily Inspiration, a service that uses an outbound dialer to call out to subscribers at a specific time each day to deliver fresh and invigorating content that edifies the soul and spirit. Some of the contents available on the portal are Christian inspirational messages, Islamic Duaa, jokes and the Couples Arena.

One product that that would excite the young and the young-at-heart is Glo Games Store. This is a subscription-based mobile portal which offers unlimited mobile games for customers to download and play at a fee per day, per week and per month.

The demonstration of this product by Shukla excited the audience in the hall. Many of the people in the hall, including the brand ambassadors were able to download games by going to glo website on their mobile devices and selecting from a range of mobile games available for their devices.

There is also a bouquet of services running on a shortcode which basically provide information to subscribers on a number of areas: Glo Legal Adviser, which provides legal information, to subscribers. To enjoy this, subscriber needs to send specific letters “LAD” to a short code after which he will receive daily legal tips at a fee monthly, every two weeks, 7 days or daily. He said the service will sensitize the Nigerian populace to their basic rights by making knowledge of the law available to them on their mobile phones.

Similar products also demonstrated are Legal Tips, Security Tips, Love Zone, and Property Tips.

THISDAY