Zain has thrown wide open a fresh opportunity for residents of South East region of Nigeria to communicate with friends, family members and business associates with the introduction of fixed phones in the area
Zain’s fixed phones will provides people in the region, especially students, rural dwellers, hospital attendants, and others, the chance to communicate particularly
in places where access to telephone is restricted, irrespective of their level of income, age, status and location.
GSM Fixed Phones are wireless devices or terminals which make telecommunication services available 24/7 without requiring human or control and the use of mobile handset.
Zain’s Chief Marketing Officer, Normal Moyo, said at the commissioning ceremony in Enugu at the weekend that the service will help to eliminate barriers to communication such as high cost of handset (phones) and restriction in access to phones in certain areas.
The company’s Fixed Phones will provide affordable telecommunication services nationwide round the clock when the deployment is complete and will empower many more Nigerians especially those who cannot afford handset or cannot make calls because of current barriers such lack of access to phone service or coverage problem and restriction in the use of phones, Moyo explained.
“Zain Nigeria is determined to make telecommunications services available, accessible and affordable to all Nigerians, and create an environment that will enable Nigerians especially the youths realise their full potentials regardless of their income level or location.
“The service is very flexible and easy to use. Users can send and receive SMS, retrieve voicemails, check credit balance, and send “credit me” or “Call Me Back” (Value Added Service or SMS service from Zain) and make and receive calls, by inserting a special SIM card into the device using the terminal”, Moyo said.
The deployment of Fixed Phones by Zain in the region will cover six States, including Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia and Cross Rivers States. These States are categorized as South East Region under Zain network’s geographical coverage classification.
Recently, Zain extended its Fixed Phone rollout to the North Central Region. The company initially commissioned the service in April this year in the South West Region of the country, becoming the first company to introduce GSM unmanned Phones or Fixed Phones in Nigeria.
The first beneficiaries of Zain’s fixed phones included Covenant University, Ota and Redeemer University, Mowe, both in Ogun State, various villages including Awgu and Ogwute in the South East Region, and Ikom in South South Region.
According to the Chief Marketing Officer, the use of Fixed Phones comes with a plethora of advantages particularly, ease of use, ability to monitor calls, elimination of the inconvenience of carrying phones or handset, accurate and transparent billing, easy access to communication services, ability to call customers on other networks, make and receive calls, send SMS at anytime, among others.
Moyo who led the Zain team to commission the service at the Holy Rosary College, Enugu, said plans are underway to deploy more fixed/unmanned phones in schools, rural areas, hospitals, destinations with high human traffic and other strategic areas in every State in the South East Region.
He assured the region of the company’s commitment to providing high quality of service, saying that Zain takes seriously issues that are of paramount concern to its customers such as excellent quality of service and good coverage.
Zain has significantly raised the level of its investment in Nigerian since 2006, pouring monies into network coverage expansion, capacity building and good customer care service delivery system.
The ceremony attracted several people including the Honourable Commissioner of Human Capital and Poverty Reduction, Enugu State, Mr. Matthew Idu; Commissioner of Information, Enugu, Chuks Ugwoke; Special Senior Assistant (Media) to the Secretary of the State Government, Enugu, Tagbo Nnamah, Regional General Manager, South East, Zain Nigeria, Obinna Ariwodo, Head of Division, Rural and Urban Poor Segment, Aderemi Amusat, among others.
