By Taddewo Senyonyi
What is the Airtel acquisition of Warid about?
Airtel signed an agreement to acquire the operations of Warid Telecom Uganda. It was a watershed moment, a game changer, which saw the company’s customer base balloon after adding Warid’s customers to its books, Airtel now has over 7 million subscribers.
It is the first ever in market consolidation involving telecommunications in the history of Uganda. Airtel through the merger is able to consolidate its position as a leading telecommunications player in the Ugandan market with its first ever in market acquisition.This merger is a key part of our strategy to deliver industry leading performance.
Together, the company will continue the legacy of marketplace innovation to benefit consumers. The combination of Warid and Airtel has created an even stronger force in the Ugandan telecommunications market.
Liberalization of the telecoms sector in Uganda has allowed for the introduction of more telecom companies leading to more competition, making mergers in the sector an inevitable logical step for industry players.
As enterprises the world over look to bolster their strategies to keep pace in the connected world, the merger with Warid provides the perfect blend of capabilities to address the opportunities of the evolving Ugandan market.
It is six months since the acquisition. How has the transition process been like? What are the major changes that have been effected so far?
Stanbic’s Five-Year Scorecard: How Profit Growth, Deposits, Lending and Dividends Reshaped PerformanceWe are especially proud of our performance over the past few months starting with regulatory approval of the merger. The acquisition gives Airtel an enhanced network position which has created a path to greater coverage in key markets across the country with the upside of geographic expansion for the brand. Now 7.2 million people in Uganda are able to access the most affordable, reliable telecommunications services in the country and also to connect globally, enjoying the benefits of ‘One Network’ that empowers over 270 million customers in 20 countries worldwide.
Specifically for Warid customers, they are able to enjoy the benefits of the one network with lower roaming rates across Africa and South Asia that other Airtel consumers globally have been enjoying such as the widest 3G coverage, Blackberry services and superior roaming services. The SIM registration process has been extremely successful for us. We achieved 96% registration. We have seen a strong growth in revenue from our products and the expanding client base for our data services.
We have really hit the ground running and have been steadily expanding the business. Some of the ways we have done this has been to open new branches; a Premium Centre in Bugolobi and Kampala Road, just a few weeks back were opened with more retail outlets following regionally. Across Uganda in both the urban and rural areas we have now over 340 sites.
We have made sizeable investments in our network and have gone further to harmonize Airtel and Warid data packs, mobile money services and call rates, increasing the value for money for Ugandan consumers. Just weeks after the merger announcement, a stream of new products and services were rolled out for call rates with the Bang Mob Kb, competitive international call tariffs.
The major changes have come in the areas where we have consolidated the Airtel and Warid services, for example Airtel Mobile money has been an area where we have introduced several new innovations with bank to mobile money account transfers and more pay bill options.
Consumers can use just one code to transact. In terms of our data services, we have introduced Smart Internet Packs which start from as low as Ushs500.On the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) front, we have seen great support for Airtel Rising Stars in growing grassroots football for which we have received CSR Awards and also for our education initiative “Adopt A School
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