Andrew Rugege, the Chief Operating Officer of MTN, has described a recent commercial by their main telecommunications competitor, Tigo Rwanda, as disrespectful and disappointing.

Addressing the press yesterday, Rugege said that the advert was unprofessional and unfortunate, considering the amicable relationship that the companies currently share.

The commercial by TIGO, which run in the New Times on September 29, 2010, depicted TIGO’s discount rate of 89% on calls as the best in the country and ended the advert with a statement that read, "You didn’t have to wait for 12 years”.

According to Rugege, the statement made by Tigo, disrespects MTN’s achievements and contributions to the country, considering the fact that MTN is currently celebrating its 12th anniversary.

"MTN has been serving Rwanda for the last twelve years, way before all other communications networks came on the market. Although Tigo joined the market two years ago, our services have been appreciated as the best by a customer base which has grown to over 2.4 million subscribers,” Rugege said.

He went on to say that although he expects other telecommunications firms to provide fierce competition to MTN, they should react professionally in the market.
"However, we aim to uphold our tradition of good cooperation and discuss this with Tigo and make our feelings known to them,” Rugege added.

When contacted, Tigo’s Marketing Manager, Nina Ndabaneze, said that the company did not mean to be disrespectful or to cause any harm.

"The moment we learnt that the advert was not being taken lightly by some MTN officials, we retracted it; it has not run again since Wednesday,” Ndabaneze said in a phone interview.

Ends