The Effective Strategies For Marketing Telephone Services With Particular Focus On Nitel Plc

Prior to independence, the provision of telecommunications facilities in this country was restricted mainly to government businesses, for enforcement of law and order and administration of the country together with a few ones of commercial and industrial purposes. The telephone network consisted of about 121 (one hundred and twenty one) telephone exchanges of which 116 (one hundred and sixteen) were magnetic/manual telephone exchange and the remaining 5 (five) were automatic, located at Lagos Island Ikeja Ebute-Matta, Apapa and Port-Harcourt. The total number of telephone lines in 1960 was 18,724 (eighteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty four) with a population of about 45 million in the country representing a telephone density of 0.4 telephone per 1000 population. After independence, the need for telephone facilities was no longer restricted to government functionaries as the development of trade, commerce industries and private enterprises commenced at a fast rate and these required efficient telephone services.

However, the government realizing this, appointed a team of experts from overseas, to carry out along-term telephone study of the country’s future requirement. The report of the experts recommended a fiver year development plan (1963-1968) to provide the following facilities:

Under this plan, a total number of 100,000 telephones were to be installed besides other improvements listed above. Due to nation’s crisis (1966-1969), the implementation of the programme was largely interrupted and in-fact completely suspended in the Eastern sector of the country. As such 20,000 lines only were added up to 1966. At the end of Nigeria civil war, the status of first years P and T plan (1963-1968) was reviewed and the second National Development plan (1970-1974) was launched in 1970. It was then decided by the government to improve the existing telecommunications facilities by marginal investment in major urban and industrial areas, gradually extend telephone facilities to rural areas where they were non-existent and restore communication system in war affected areas. The second National Development as such consisted of 

COIN BOXES

Up to 1972, a few telephone coin boxes were installed but these were recovered due to the change into a new decimal coinage system.

Attempt was made to modify the coin boxes but without any satisfactory result.

SUBSCRIBERS LINE

The telephone network was increased from 52,000 lines in 1975 to total of 54,702 lines as at December 1976. In the network, manual telephone services were being provided in 407 locations. This level of services represented a telephone density of one per 1000 population, approximately which was one of the lowest in the world.

COIN TELEPHONE

The department had in the late 1970’s decided to re-introduce modern public coin telephone instruments throughout the federation for the convenience of the public 3,000 coin telephone instruments were already on order as part of the third National Development Plan these would be progressively installed during the plan period.

SHORT TERM PLAN

In order to correct the sub-standard signaling systems of the existing telephone network and other problems of inadequately and overloading which had rendered telephone service very intolerable, government in 1974 was urged and it accepted to install a new separate system of international standard to cover area in the country being served by the existing equipment and which were then S.T.D services.

In addition, areas in the than 5 eastern states in which telephone service had been interrupted by the civil war were selected for a quick development under a short-term arrangement known as the contingency plan.

This was authorized in March 1975 with a capacity of 76,000 lines. The difficulties of connecting the existing system to new one persisted until July 1976 and because of the difficulties and creation of new states, the capacity of the contingency plan was increased to 167,000 lines. On commissioning of the contingency plan in 1977, the telephone density in the country became approximately 3 per 1000 population.

LONG -TERM PLANS

In addition to the contingency plan, the ministry of communication had a long-term plan for improvement of telecommunication facilities throughout the federation within the context of the Third National Development Plan (1975-1980). New modern telephone exchanges for 147 locations had been contracted and arrangement was in hand to contract for 145 telephone exchanges required. In new local government area on completion, these exchanges should add about 203,000 lines, bringing the telephone networks to a total of about 370,00 lines. Additional 84,000 lines were to be provided by installation of mobile exchanges and interface equipment. The contracts for the new telephone exchanges included switching equipment and the associated subscribers’ cable network.

Between 1978 and 1980, additional 296000 telephone lines were to be connected to the network to bring the total of 750,000 by the end of the Third National Development Programme. This represents to telephone density to 10 per 1000 population. On a long term basis, the department planned to increase the line capacity to 2,500,000 by 1985 and bring Nigeria telephone density to the world average growth rate. The implementation of transmission projects under the Third National Development programme would provide sufficient and reliable trunk circuits to meet the anticipated increased volume of trunk traffic.

Although the terrestrial radio system on microwave would still form the backbone of the transmission system. Other systems like the coaxial cable, domestic satellite communication and tethered Aerostats (Ballon system) had been adopted to meet the planned facilities and bring security into the system by duplication.