It has been 20 years of an interesting journey since 2003 when Nigeria’s telecom giant, GLOBACOM rolled out her services.
Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr. CSG GCON known in the corporate world as “The Bull” made his first attempt to secure a Global System for Mobile communication, GSM license in 2001 when he made a bid for the license through his company, Communications Investments Limited (CIL) alongside other telecom companies. But his bid was cancelled based on an alleged default in payment issue. The businessman lost a whopping $20 million which was the mandatory deposit fee. This loss didn’t deter him from applying again in 2003 when the opportunity arose, and this time, Globacom, his wholly indigenous telecommunications company, got a bigger pie —a Second National Operator (SNO) license.
Globacom, as Nigeria’s first indigenous telecoms network was supposed to start off with the fixed landline services but many Nigerians already caught the GSM bug thus the company decided to launch her own services.
The entry of Globacom into the GSM arena caused a massive disruption in the industry with the introduction of the Per Second Billing, PSB contrary to the fixed N50 per minute call charges that had been offered by the other GSM companies. Even if a customer made a call for one second or a dropped call, the person would be charged for a whole 60 seconds at N50. But the entry of Globacom brought a huge relief to millions of Nigerians —and foreigners alike— who were then having the fixed rate charges forced on them by other service providers. The PSB revolution created by Globacom forced the other companies to also commence the Per Second Billing which was once like an impossible task. Globacom also ‘crashed’ the exorbitant price of SIM cards as the company sold them at a far cheaper rate than other existing telecoms companies. The company later gave out SIM Cards to customers for FREE, which gave birth to the popular marketing slogan, GLO NAH FREE!
The telecoms company has invested heavily in its network infrastructure, including laying submarine cables and building a network of cell towers and base stations. This is in addition to launching several innovative products, such as Glo Mobile Money, which allows customers to send and receive money, pay bills, and buy airtime using their mobile phones.
As a consumer centric telecoms company, Glo also has the subscribers at the heart of its business lines. The grand master of data, after entering the telecoms space with its disruptive per second billing, Glo has consistently dished out mouthwatering bonanzas to be on top of her game. Such bonanza as Glo Always on tariff; GloBerekete ++ tariff; GloBumpa tariff; Glo 22X tariff; Glo G-BAM; GloInfinito; Glo Bounce tariff; GloJolof tariff; Glo Talk Special tariff; Glo Jumbo tariff; GloYakata tariff plan among other enticing tariffs just for the customers enjoyment.
Globacom also made history as the first telecom company to build an $800 million high-capacity 9,800km submarine fibre-optic cable, popularly known as Glo-1. It’s the first successful submarine cable from the United Kingdom to Nigeria with the attendant high increases in internet speeds and download rates with resultant significant improvements in online technologies. The company also was the first to offer 2.5G when others were on 2G. It also offers customers other interesting services such as MMS, International SMS connectivity to over 804 networks in 174 countries, BlackBerry solutions, international prepaid roaming, voice SMS, personal ringback tunes, and Magicplus.
The company has also impacted significantly on international telecom operations with Glo Gateway, the International Wholesale Voice and Data Exchange and Trading Business Unit of Globacom.
Another area where the company is making giant strides is in the area of Sponsorship, Endorsement and Corporate Social Investments (CSI). Globacom has sponsored the Nigerian and Ghanaian Football Leagues, as well as the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF). The company pumped millions of dollars in staging the CAF African Footballer of The Year award ceremony, sending private jets to ferry nominated African players across the globe. Similarly, Globacom also sponsors the Nigeria’s National Teams Supporters’ Club to any part of the world where any of Nigeria’s national teams is competing. In November 2009, GLO became an official sponsor of English Premiership team, Manchester United. The sponsorship also includes young players from Benin, Ghana and Nigeria going to Manchester to train with the club.
Globacom is also a big supporter of the Nigerian entertainment industry. Many musicians, comedians and Nollywood actors are on the roster of the telecom company as brand ambassadors. The company has empowered and elevated many Nigerian celebrities to become superstars using the Glo platform in ways never seen and done before. At a time when entertainers were being paid peanuts for their artistry, Globacom upped the ante, dishing out millions of naira to their ambassadors, and helping them to live more comfortable lives.
The company has also sponsored various entertainment shows and events such as X-Factor, Slide ‘N’ Bounce, Campus Storm, Naija Sings, Dance With Peter, Glo Mega Music Nationwide Tour, Laffta Fest and the popular sit-com, Professor Johnbull.
The Glo Battle of the Year Nigeria, the world’s biggest dance reality television show was also brought to Nigeria by Globacom. The company is also the sole sponsor of African Voices on CNN. The programme’s objective is to project game changers on the African continent and also promote the Globacom brand globally on CNN’s platforms. The company is also known for its pan-African and highly creative TV commercials.
Glo also sponsors cultural festivals such as Ojude Oba Festival in Ijebu-Ode and Ofala Festival in Onitsha.
Through her various CSR Projects, Globacom has touched many lives across Nigeria. The company had helped in lifting up many ailing Nigerian celebrities and icons, donating various study materials and IT equipment to campuses, and staging various empowerment programmes for Nigerians.
Glo is also known for giving back to its customers via various rewarding promotions. Many customers have won houses, cars, TVs, generators, sewing machines, tricycles, etc.
Over the years, the company has continued to grow, and has expanded to other African countries. Today, it is the second largest telecoms operator in Nigeria with close to 60 million subscribers. It also operates in Ghana and the Republic of Benin.
The telecom giant, which marks its 20 years of operations on August 29, was voted “Nigeria’s Most Popular Brand” in a Top of Mind (TOM) Survey conducted by brand and marketing firm, Top 50 Brands Nigeria, as part of its comprehensive 2023 Top Brands perception assessment.
