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For Banigbe To Strut 9mobile From The Last To The First, He Must Use The Swagger Of The New And Roam On Starlink




The Oasis Reporters


July 11, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obafemi Banigbe, CEO, 9mobile .



As a disowned son of Etisalat that was cut out of inheritance from Dubai, 9mobile Nigeria has shown amazing resilience despite its tough call of indebtedness and the rough road it had to travel amidst ambushments and business disruptions.



Nigerians applaud the indomitable spirit of the staff that stayed back despite the humiliations of being called the debtor without stock to sell and climb out of debt fast. They’ve come too far to quit.

 




Some data on telecommunications report say that MTN had the highest share of subscriptions in Q3 2023 with 85,854,576 active voice subscribers and 68,573,680 active internet subscribers.




This is followed by Globacom with 61,451,508 voice subscribers and 43,981,204.
Airtel has 60,272,854 voice subscribers with 43,142,286 internet subscribers.




For 9mobile, it has 13,762,115 voice subscribers and 3,907,085 internet subscribers. That is how low the network sank because of it’s numerous troubles. Besides, it was initially building a highly successful robust network before the big debts that tried to cripple it caused it much harm.



And talk about telecom towers, it had very little to talk about. Then also talk about fibre optic cable or underseas cable, it simply didn’t feature in any top league.




But due to the forces of technology and innovation, 9mobile can easily glide to the top.


Here’s how.


It’s new Chief Executive Officer, Obafemi Banigbe has a chance to exude freshness and use the swagger of the newly appointed to lay his roadmap firmly. He can tell the board about grand plans to roam the network on the new Starlink satellites to cellular network owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

 

Starlink’s Elon Musk.




If he can negotiate that deal successfully instead of roaming the network on either MTN or Airtel network, he would have successfully decoupled 9mobile from the economic bind that the Nigerian economy has placed the bigger networks into very expensive Tariffs that are being planned due to the devaluation of the naira.


And how can he fund this grandiose but reasonable plan?


Let Obafemi Banigbe appeal to the Nigerian diaspora community. They remitted $19.55 billion to Nigeria in 2023 according to World Bank data.


That is definitely the disposable income that they sent or they would send every year to fund basic necessities from School fees to hospital bills or weddings and any other ceremonies.




It says that there is more than that available. They’d love to invest in the sector as well as other sectors of the economy once they see resiliency with no corruption. Banigbe should give them a platform to come on board. And soon, very soon, the least network won’t be the last any longer.


Starlink satellite to cellular with a constellation of 100 satellites covering everywhere can help them reach areas they have been unable to cover. It would just be a matter of pay, plug and play. The innovative Space engineers are there. And knowing how they were before the locusts (now gone) invaded, the sky is just the starting point.


But is Banigbe ready?




Greg Abolo
gregabolo@gmail.com

Greg Abolo

Blogger at The Oasis Reporters.

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