4G uptake ‘will depend on pricing’

The fourth generation long term evolution, commonly known as 4G LTE Internet, launched in October last year is slowly picking up pace in terms of market penetration. The technology was commercially launched through a private public partnership by the government and Korea Telecom (KT), establishing Olleh Rwanda Network (ORN) as a joint venture to deploy a high-speed 4G broadband network to cover 95 per cent of Rwandans in three years. So far the service is retailed by six retailers with four more expected to join the market in the near future. Rhee Dongwon, the Chief Marketing Officer at ORN, said more government and corporate users were likely to go for the service compared to private users. Though noting that the trend was going up, he said it was still early to determine trends of uptake since the service was launched only three months back. Retailers noted that the clients were impressed by the new service but price was a hindering factor. Yvonne Manzi Makolo, MTN Rwanda’s Chief Marketing Officer, said they have so far had about 200 subscriptions for 4G which was slower than anticipated. “It has been slower than anticipated with the major obstacle being the pricing. We hope that when the price eventually goes down, the uptake will be better,” she said. On the services launch, it had been expected that the entry of multiple players into the market would help drive down costs. “It is not an issue of more players in the market since we are all retailers of ORN and our retail price depends on how much we buy on a wholesale perspective,” Makolo said. She noted that individuals recorded the biggest affinity for the service as opposed to corporates who are more sensitive to speed. Gloria Ngabire, the Chief Commercial Officer at Axiom Networks (a retailer of the service), said they had established that clients liked the product during the trial phase but the pricing discouraged them from using it continuously. So far, they also have a 4G subscription base of slightly over 200 clients, she said. She cited the need to map out the product in terms of usage in order to attain optimum capacity.During its launch, the service was only available in Kigali with officials promising that it will be extended to the rest of the country within three years. “But the main issue is how much we are charging per bundle, pricing model used and the added value,” Ngabire said. She noted that so far, most of the clients they had served were high end consumers, people who work in corporate environments but have the need to use high level connectivity at home. “The idea was and still is to get to everybody out there including the low end clientille but as things stand, even the high end consumer finds it a little bit pricy,” Ngabire said. She called for a shift in mentality and more client consultations in the 4G unroll process which would make the service a commodity or utility the consumers would go for without thoughts of cost. “We need to re-assess the needs, look closely at the statistics and listen closely to the consumers. The more we satisfy their needs, the more traction we will get from the market guaranteeing sustainability no matter the cost,” Ngabire said. The technology was welcomed as an addition to the country’s ICT ecosystem which officials believe will steer the country closer toward a knowledge driven economy and create a better business environment, among other impacts. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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4G uptake ‘will depend on pricing’