Vodafone is very confident in bmobile’ s ability going forward to get more market share in both Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon islands.
A statement from the two partners – Bmobile/Vodafone said this is the main reason that they have signed the agreement as the potential in both countries is huge.
“The vote of confidence by the Vodafone Global based in Hong Kong is based on numerous years’ experience in similar markets such as Kenya and Fiji.
“Bmobile have turned around in the last eight months their technical abilities and now offer in both Port Moresby and Honiara fast 3G services and good coverage.”
As part of the deal bmobile had to demonstrate that they could offer good call quality and over 95% availability on both networks.
Both countries have spent the last eight months working with Huawei their network vendor in fixing historical technical issues.
The group CEO Sundar Ramamurthy key focus since taking the role has been fixing their network and providing the customer service that their subscriber base demands.
With Vodafone partnership now complete bmobile/Vodafone can enter the lucrative corporate market where their competitors have been dominant.
The statement said in both countries they will now enter this market and offer Vodafone services and better pricing.
The Bmobile/Vodafone CEO in the Solomons Niall Downey is looking forward to meeting this segment of the market and offering more affordable data and corporate plans.
He understands the business needs of the business community as one of the board members of the Solomon Islands chamber of commerce and industry (SICCI).
“A key component of business in 2014 for Solomon Islands business’s is to ensure you reduce your costs and avail of the best deals to match your business needs. It is not just about increasing revenues but searching for the best value for your business without sacrificing any level of quality or service.”
The Vodafone partner market executive Vice President for Asia Pacific Mr. Hany Gabriel looks forward to his visit to the Solomons next month in August to meet the business leaders and see how the new brand and partnership can develop specific services for the business’s operating in the Solomons currently.
The immediate benefits for the Bmobile/Vodafone customers is that Bmobile/Vodafone can now leverage the buying power on equipment and access the years of experience in marketing in similar markets with new innovative technical solutions.
“Vodafone are also prepared to consider the option of direct equity participation in Bmobile in addition to technical assistance that they will now provide to the PNG and Solomons Islands based mobile operator.
“This is a beginning of a long term relationship in PNG and SI. This is an engagement and re-affirmation that PNG and Solomons Islands are important markets to the largest mobile carrier in the world with over 434 million mobile customers around the globe,” the statement said.
