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Natcom to Spend $1bn in Mobile Rollout Plan to Lagos, PH, Abuja
James Emejo in Abuja
NATCOM, the consortium which acquired the former national carrier, NITEL/Mtel, and now rebranded it to Ntel, said it planned to spend $1 billion as part of its post-acquisition plan to rollout services to Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

Ntel’s Manager, Mr. Osondu Nwokoro, said the company had recorded significant milestones in technological innovation, being able to deploy the 4th Generation mobile  technology.

He said: “NTEL network designed for the 900 Mhz (Band 8) and 1800 Mhz (Band 3) frequency bands equips it to operate as the most advanced 4G LTE network in Nigeria.”

Speaking in Abuja during a post-privatisation presentation to the acting Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Dr. Vincent Akpotaire, Nwokoro added: “This milestone among others is geared towards making the dream of giving Nigerians a pure play advanced 4G LTE network offering mobile services across voice, data and video a reality.”

He said the new management was well positioned to justify the privatisation initiative championed by the BPE, stressing that the company was also ready to distinguish Ntel as the preferred choice of telecommunications service provider in the country under the name NTEL.

Akpotaire, however, challenged NATCOM on the need to come out with unique products and services, if they must make the desired in-road in the telecoms sector. He urged the Consortium to justify its emergence in the privatization process by deploying the right technology to turn around the sector.

 In a statement by BPE spokesman, Alex Okoh, the acting BPE boss further expressed satisfaction with NATCOM’s post-privatisation roll out plans and assured firm of the Bureau’s dedication to its responsibilities towards achieving the set objectives of privatising NITEL/MTEL.

 He said he was optimistic that NTEL would fill the position of a strong indigenous telecommunications service provider, stressing that the Bureau would work with the National Council for Privatisation (NCP) to  resolve some outstanding issues in order to expedite the execution of the roll out plans.