Nigeria’s “triple play” services provider which includes mobile voice, fixed wireless voice and wireless data products Starcomms Plc said it has exceeded two million subscriber base as at Friday 24th October’ 2008.
Mr. Maher Qubain, chief executive officer, said the feat represents the highest growth period recorded so far by the company which celebrated the attainment of 1 million early this year and juxtaposed with the 1.55 million total gross recorded at the end of June 2008.
In February 2008, Starcomms became the first Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network to hit and surpass the million marks on its subscriber base, and by April last year, two months after the network activated its mobile range, 07028, the subscriber base surged to over 500,000
In 2002, the company’s gross subscriber base was less than 2,000 with only a few base stations in Lagos.. However, by the turn of 2003, the same year the network launched in Kano and Borno states, the figure had climbed to over 60,000, and reached almost 200,000 by mid 2005. .
Qubain said the fact that Starcomms, which pioneered the Mobile Broadband Data Access Service (EVDO) in Nigeria, crossed the two million threshold in a highly competitive market like Nigeria’s, with more operators coming into the fray and GSM Operators pushing into the fixed lines segment, makes the milestone very outstanding, particularly as he had declared during the listing of the company’s stocks on 14th July 2008 that it will reach the two million mark before the end of fiscal 2008.
He said the dedication and determination to transform visions into realities and get rid of all communications challenges with appropriate solutions remains a cardinal goal of the company, which is now poised to achieve unparalleled success and ensure huge returns to all stakeholders.
The overall objective, according to Qubain, is to ensure that the spread of ICT goes a long way in empowering users through access to livelihoods, critical market information and capacity-building, and in the process creating wealth to the benefit of subscribers, telecommunications players and the nation.
“Although the telecommunications sector in Nigeria has experienced an exhilarating growth rate over the last six years, I believe there is still room for further exploitation. The potential for business growth and economic opportunities remains enormous; Starcomms is determined to play a crucial role in building a dynamic and globally competitive ICT industry in Nigeria,” Qubain said
The Starcomms CEO noted that in line with the Company’s desire to ensure continuous growth/expansion of its network and subscriber base, and Nigerian ownership of the company, it approached the Nigerian Stock Exchange in July 2008 via private placement of its shares and successfully raised funds in excess of N64.35 billion.