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Last week’s unveiling of a new colour, logo and name for 9mobile, marks another phase of a journey for the telecoms company, writes Emma Okonji
It was a moment of great change that marked the beginning of another phase of resilient journey into the Nigerian telecoms space for 9mobile, when the telecoms company, last week, suddenly metamorphosed from its former green colour to a ripe orange colour, in order to unveil its new logo and brand identity called T2.
It all happened at the Eko Hotel in Lagos, when guests were ushered into a reception hall with a bold description on the walls-‘Tech Meets Tenacity’, written in a manner that easily captured the attention of guests, before they were eventually ushered into the main hall of the event on a cool Friday evening.
Unknown to the guests, the new identity T2, was derived from the inscription-‘Tech meets Tenacity’, which was later unveiled on that cool evening of relaxation.
The Journey
T2, which is the fourth entrant into the Nigerian telecoms space, entered the Nigerian telecoms market in 2008 with the brand name called Etisalat.
Its arrival was big and full of promises to its delighted subscribers that believed so much in the brand, and more so because of its affiliation to Abu Dhabi, a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based telecoms’ company.
Within few years of its rollout, the telecoms company invested heavily in network expansion with sophisticated telecoms equipment, and in less than six years, the telecoms company won the hearts of Nigerian youths and recorded over 16 million subscribers on its network.
However, in 2016, eight years after its rollout, Eitsalat ran into troubled waters, a development that led to the exit of the Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat Group from the Nigerian telecoms market in 2017, a development that compelled the telecoms company to shop for new investors, which they eventually got.
At the inception of the new investors, there was a need to change the telecoms company’s identity to reflect the vision of its new owners, which led to a name change, known as 9mobile.
The telecoms company under the brand name of 9mobile, however struggled to compete with other competitors in the Nigerian telecoms market, and was in need of fresh funds to boost network expansion, a development that compelled its management team to chart a new roadmap that would enable 9mobile address its multi-dimensional challenges, in order to reposition it to regain its lost market share.
The zeal to reposition 9mobile was sequel to the fresh investment capital that came in from its new investors.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the then 9mobile, Obafemi Banigbe, who gave insight into the repositioning plan and the strategies to regain lost market share during a media interaction in Lagos, assured Nigerians that the repositioning plan would help 9mobile reclaim its lost market share and change the narrative about its declining subscriber number.
“Since Etisalat exited the market, the performance of the business has been on the decline. So at the time the new shareholders and the new management took over the business, the business was really grappling with multi-dimensional challenges that we had to take on headlong. We have the issue of infrastructure. The overall infrastructure of the business has really not been upgraded, and so we are dealing with a lot of obsolete infrastructure, and we are also dealing with declining revenue, declining subscriber number, and the high cost of doing telecoms business in Nigeria. So there were lots of challenges that we have had to deal with,” Banigbe said.
To address the multi-dimensional issues, Banigbe said the new management had to come up with four phased recovery plans, which includedStabilisation phase, Modernisation phase, Transformation phase and Growth phase.
The New T2
Having passed through the teething challenges and having overcome such challenges, the CEO of T2, Obafemi Banigbe, said the company was in its growth stage during its years of green colour, but has reached a ripe age with its new orange colour, full of vigour and resilience to reposition the brand, in order to serve its customers better.
Last week, the telecoms company changed its colour, logo and brand identity to T2, a name that depicts how ‘Tech meets Tenacity’.
Speaking at the brand unveiling, Banigbe said: “Our new identity depicts Boldness, Innovation and Strength. We were in a formative stage when were green, but now we have arose and ripe with our new orange colour. As we begin this new journey, our promise is to serve you boldly. Our promise is to serve you with clarity. Our promise is to serve you with speed. Our promise is to serve you with heartfelt passion. That is the business that we want to present to you. And to our customers, we want to thank you for staying the course with us. We want to thank you for opening with us. We want to thank you for holding us accountable and that is the reason why we exist. To our partners, we want to thank you for believing in the vision and building alongside with us.”
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, was present at the unveiling. He commended T2 for the rebranding and encouraged the management team to keep to their promise to provide quality service to the consumers.
“My message to T2 is simple, and I believe this is the message from the board to the management team as well. Let this rebrand be more than a change of colours or new logo. Let it be a renewed commitment to innovation, to service excellence, and to the millions of Nigerians whose lives and businesses depend on your network every single day. Our government will continue to work with ecosystem players like T2 who are bold enough to invest, agile enough to adapt, and visionary enough to see that the future belongs to those who embrace change before it is forced upon them,” Tijani said.
Chairman of T2, Thomas Ethu, thanked the people of Nigeria for believing in the network, despite its past challenges.
“Today is a significant day for the 9mobile brand, which is now called T2. It represents the start of a new phase of life, a fresh start, a rebirth, change or transformation, growth, reawakening, and a new order. Today marks a new beginning for T2 business. The match has been tedious, the journey has been exhausting, but in all, we were resilient,” Ethu said.
The Significance
Speaking about the significance of rebranding 9mobile to T2, the minister said the rebranding remained significant to both customers and the government.
“We consider companies like T2 not just as a service provider, but as partners in delivering the renewable agenda. Every new investment in towers, in fiber, in customer experience, and in innovation, strengthens our digital economy. By renewing its commitment to its customers, T2 is signaling its readiness to compete, innovate, and contribute even more boldly to Nigeria’s journey towards becoming a global digital powerhouse. This is why, as a nation, we should recognise this investment as not just an investment for the company, but for us all Nigerians. I specifically commend the chairman of T2 who has led this rebranding process and the management team involved and I encourage them to ensure that they preserve this asset that is known today as T2,” the minister said.
According to him, with the telecoms sector already contributing between 16 per cent and 18 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, which is projected to exceed 20 per cent within the next five years, government is committed to driving its sustainability and growth through progressive policies and direct interventions.
“This is why we are leading an investment round to democratise access through Project Bridge, like the 90,000 kilometers wholesale open access network across all geopolitical zones, local government areas, and wards in Nigeria. Leaving no one behind, we’re also partnering with private investors to deploy 7,000 rural telecommunications sites, aiming to bring over 20 million currently unserved Nigerians into the digital economy. Our strategic blueprint, which is built on knowledge, policy, infrastructure, innovation, entrepreneurship, and trade, is designed to expand GDP and turn digital access into jobs, competitiveness, and prosperity for all,” the minister further said.
Partnership
In preparation for the rebranding, which took place last week, the telecoms company had last month, entered into a national roaming agreement with MTN Nigeria that would enable T2 customers to leverage on MTN’s radio network infrastructure to make uninterrupted voice calls across Nigeria, where MTN has network coverage.
The initiative, according to the two telecoms companies, is a three-year term partnership that is in line with the policy of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on telecoms industry collaboration that will bring about cost-efficient service delivery.
Speaking on the partnership during a press conference in Lagos, Banigbe said the partnership would enable T2 customers to leverage on the MTN radio infrastructure, to enhance call connectivity in every city where MTN is present.
According to Banigbe, “We are currently entering into a partnership with MTN, where we have signed a national agreement for a three-year term that allows nine mobile subscribers to be able to use MTN’s radio access coverage across the country, and that is quite exciting for us.”
Our mantra still has not changed, as we continue to invest in the development of our network infrastructure, invest in our core network operating system, invest in the operating of our payment system, and our transmission infrastructure. We consider it an opportunity to leverage on the infrastructure that MTN has in place across the country in order for us to extend our services to our end customers, Banigbe further said.
Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, who represented the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Dr. Karl Toriola, said: “We are very grateful to our minister, Dr. Bosun Tijani, and the NCC for championing the drive for cost-efficient industry partnership and collaboration. At MTN, we are very committed to driving collaboration and we are very committed to pushing the boundaries and ensuring that the people of Nigeria get the best that is possible.”