Glo @23: A Brand and It’s Gigantic Strides

By Eric Elezuo

With over 23 million active subscribers on its platform, there’s no gainsaying the fact that the indigenous and ingenious communications brand, GLOBACOM, has become a tremendous force to reckon with as it celebrates 23 interrupted years of existence, and prolific performance.

It is therefore, no surprises that glasses are being cling, champagnes are popped, and the general atmosphere appears glorious. Glo is not just a telecom organization, it is Nigeria’s communication heartbeat, ensuring that Nigerians and other neighboring countries breathe easy when it comes to being close to loved ones, entertainment and generally getting things done. Glo has in 23 years proved to be a legendary problem solver, and the joy knows no bounds.

This is an exclamation in solid raising of greats, glorious renewals, splendid innovations and initiatives, toast and smiles of accomplishments among all and sundry and creating billionaires among Africans. The journey may not have been easy, in fact, it isn’t, but it has been worth the while. Today, Glo is a tale told by acumen, intelligence, bravery and humanity-oriented point of view.

The story of this Nigeria’s thriving indigenous telecommunication network, Glo, is a story of doggedness, commitment, dedication and unbroken focus. This is considering the fact that the originator of the brand ventured into a terrain hitherto unknown to Nigerian business, overcoming the harsh business environment, familiar intimidation and huge financial involvement.

It is worthy of note that the first step towards hoisting the Glo network was a herculean task on its own as the overriding fame of pioneer telecoms, was already on the ground with experience and huge financial muscle, taking the available space and thriving in all ramifications. It therefore, only required a tough and out of the box business acumen to bring Glo to existence. And this was what the man known by many names including the Bull, Spirit of Africa and quintessential giver, Dr. Michael Adenuga Jr., did. He practically crashed the network ego, raising the customer to the kingship level and made him the sole concern of telecom business. This he did by bringing on board the famed per second billing; something nobody believed was possible.

The fact that the brand lost its initial $20 million after emerging as one of the four winners in the bid auction process to operate the just introduced Global System of Mobile telecommunications (GSM) in Nigeria, did not deter it from following the dream to give Nigerians equitable telecom service. The colossal loss may have been a blessing in disguise as it gave the team a leverage to come back smoking with ideas that changed the entire telecom world for good.

The brand is 23 years now, having waded through the murky waters of competition and churning out one great achievement after another to the applause of global citizens.

When the company celebrated two decades of impactful existence, and appreciation to Nigerians in 2023, the telecom giant lauded the government and people for their support through a statement, capturing the journey of two decades plus one.

The statement recalled that it had been two decades of transforming the telecommunications landscape, fulfilling dreams, and positively affecting the lives of millions of Nigerians.

During the period, it released a statement, that till date, continues to look fresh and resonate pride, accomplishments, originality and most importantly, Nigerianism.

“Since inception in 2003, Globacom has been true to its resolve to provide world-class communications and digital services through constant deployment of latest technologies in line with the corporate promise to build a robust ICT network infrastructure that would consistently deliver value to its esteemed customers.

“Glo has been at the forefront of revolutionary changes in the telecommunication sector in Nigeria. It crashed the cost of acquiring SIM cards in the country from about N25,000 to just about N200. The network also disappointed bookmakers as it launched operations on a Per Second Billing platform, a feat others had described as impossible to achieve until another five years.

“Prominent among the innovations Glo pioneered in Nigeria are Blackberry, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Magic Plus, Glo Direct, Glo Fonepals, Africhat, Glo Mobile Internet, GloFleetmanager, M-Banking and Glo Mobile Office. Glo was also the first to launch 2.5G, 3G and 4G LTE networks. It also singlehandedly built an international submarine cable, Glo 1 to connect West Africa directly to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. It also connects 12 nations in the West African sub region, including some of them that are landlocked.

“Glo1 is credited with crashing the cost of internet services and is today the preferred cable system by global OTT providers. It connects thousands of kilometres of national fibre to all parts of Nigeria.

“As we celebrate our achievements these past (twenty) years, we wish to acknowledge that Globacom’s huge success is a result of the support of millions of Nigerians. We wish to thank them for their love and patronage and for the unprecedented confidence they have consistently shown in the company,” the company said.

“While restating its commitment to the provision of world-class communications and digital services in line with its corporate resolve to build a robust communications and technology infrastructure that would consistently deliver value to its esteemed customers at launch, Globacom noted, We will remain a catalyst for socio-economic empowerment not only in Nigeria but also in Africa. We will continue to invest massively in new technologies to exceed customer.”

THE GLO STORY: DOWN MEMORYLANE

In a nutshell, the story of the phenomenal impact and market leadership of Glo is better told by Glo itself as captured below:

The story of the rise of indigenous telecommunications company, Globacom, is like a fairytale.

It would be “remembered clearly, as if it was yesterday, when its promoter and self-effacing billionaire, Dr Mike Adenuga, appeared to have hit a blank in his attempt to venture into the telecommunications business in 2000.

His company, Communications Investment Limited (CIL), was first issued a conditional licence in 1999 to operate the Global System of Mobile telecommunications (GSM). This followed its emergence as one of four winners of the bid auction process. Adenuga paid the $20 million mandatory deposit. However, in the process of effecting the release of the balance payment of $265 million, the licence was unfairly revoked and he lost the $20 million deposit. It was a colossal loss, but the bullish businessman who is renowned for his tenacity was undeterred. The other three winners, MTN, Airtel (then known as Econet) and M-tel proceeded to roll out services.

Two years later, Adenuga went on to bid for the Second National Operator (SNO) license, and deposited another $20 million. This time, he was lucky. He won the bid in August, 2002, through Globacom Limited. Incidentally, the SNO has a wider range of operations as it gave Globacom the right to operate as a national carrier, operate digital mobile service, serve as international gateway for telecommunications in the country, and operate fixed wireless service.

Globacom was to roll out services a year later, precisely on August 29, 2003. The odds were heavily stacked against Adenuga because by then, the other operators already had a two-year head start over Adenuga’s Glo. Secondly, he was venturing into a completely new terrain. Considering that MTN and Econet both had years of experience in the business in other countries, many expected Globacom to stutter.

However, the doubts soon evaporated. Not only did Globacom stun the industry by launching on per second billing, it also crashed the cost of acquiring a GSM line from N30,000 to N6,999 and later to N200. The older operators who, for two years boasted that it was not possible to launch operations on the billing platform as no operator in the world had done this before, were left playing catch up. Like a rampaging bull (which incidentally is Adenuga’s totem), Globacom embarked on a massive rollout of facilities and operations in several towns and cities across the country, and within nine months amassed over one million subscribers. Consequently, it established a reputation as the fastest growing GSM network in Africa.

Since that remarkable feat by Globacom, it has been one endearing success after another for the Nigerian company. In an industry where it was expected to lag behind the established multinational operators, Glo is not just rubbing shoulders with them, it has, indeed, been the pacesetter. It has come to be regarded as a behemoth in Nigeria’s telecom space.

It was the first operator to launch the 2.5 Generation technology, making the convergence of voice, data and multimedia technologies possible. Hence, Glo was able to launch such value added services as vehicle tracking, mobile internet, mobile banking, multimedia messaging service (MMS), voice SMS, and Text2email before the multinationals who were still running on 2G then.

Globacom also pioneered Blackberry Services in Nigeria, and the device was for a long time the rage among business executives and in social circles.

The introduction of the 3G Plus technology marked the second time that Globacom has been in the forefront of pioneering the latest transmission network in Nigeria. With this technology, Glo was able to carry out a much faster transmission of data, voice, broadband internet and multimedia services over a range of frequencies. It also allowed customers to do video call, video streaming and high-speed mobile internet access, amongst others, from their 3G mobile handsets.

Globacom was not done yet in setting the pace yet as it also become the first network to launch a nationwide 4G-LTE network in Nigeria. The technology offers efficient broadband internet to millions of Nigerians at speeds that are several times faster than the 3G network. Subscribers on the network are able to download ultra-high definition videos in seconds.

THE AUDACIOUS GAMECHANGER; GLO ONE

But perhaps one of the most audacious projects undertaken by Globacom was the construction of an international submarine cable, Glo 1. Launched in 2010, the project was said to have cost over $800 million. It was the first time a gigantic project of this nature had been undertaken by a single company.

The facility which has brought unprecedented bandwidth from Europe to Nigeria and other West African countries marked the beginning of the crashing of bandwidth costs in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa, thereby facilitating more access to broadband internet. With this intervention by Globacom, almost everyone who can afford a smartphone is able to use data. Also, according to industry sources, Glo 1 is currently providing the much needed connectivity to critical sectors of the economy. Companies in the Oil and gas, manufacturing, banking, commerce, education and health sectors as well as several multinational companies, including telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs), are said to benefit from Glo 1.

Glo 1 has also played a major role in Nigeria’s broadband penetration which currently stands at 44.5 per cent. The penetration is principally driven by major players in the telecom sector, such as Glo 1. Globacom has also invested generously in the infrastructure to deliver the last mile to end-users, while also breaking the cost barrier by introducing affordable tariffs.

While commenting on the impact of Glo 1, Globacom sources said, “With the 4G expansion to tier 2 and 3 cities, Glo1 acts as the catalyst in propagating broadband penetration in Nigeria and acts as an enabler for enterprise customers to provide world class connectivity to all their offices and factories across Nigeria. Many cloud computing companies who cater to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) are setting up shop within the Glo partnered data centers. Using Globacom’s robust terrestrial infrastructure, Glo1 has seized this opportunity to backhaul their traffic to other data centers across the world.”

It is remarkable that it is a Nigerian company that has pulled off this ambitious project. One of Adenuga’s close associates said the idea of building a submarine cable berthed when the entrepreneur went on a business trip to Paris, the French capital, sometime around 2008. While there, he found out that telephone calls to Nigeria were epileptic unlike the connection between France and other parts of Europe. When he made enquiries about what could be done to solve the problem, he was told it was to have an international submarine cable. There and then, Dr Adenuga decided to build Glo 1, and the rest is now history. The project is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit and foresight of the man behind Globacom.

For those who know Adenuga well, it was not surprising that Glo was able to quickly established itself as the pacesetter in the industry, despite commencing business two years after MTN and Airtel (then called Econet).

Globacom’s achievements in 23 years cannot truly be overemphasized,  and that explains why the company took it upon itself to celebrate management and staff in various ways for a job well done.

Happy 23th anniversary to a brand of inestimable value!