Phone Card News
GSM: Chintos Boss Challenges Phone Card Manufacturers On Environmental Issue
GSM: Chintos Boss Challenges Phone Card Manufacturers On
Environmental Issue
Vanguard
(Lagos)
August 16, 2004
Posted to the web August 16, 2004
Okoh Aihe
AS the January 1, 2005 deadline set by the Federal Government
for phone cards to be manufactured in Nigeria gradually ticks away, a telecom
expert, Mr. Sylvester Okonkwo, has raised an alarm that except close attention
is paid to the disposability, the used cards will eventually degrade our
environment.
But Okonkwo also hailed the decision by government to produce
cards locally as highly commendable because it will reduce the exportation of
our meagre resources.
This policy shift by government to ensure that re-charge
cards are produced in the country was also hailed by ATCON, the umbrella body
of telecom companies in Nigeria as capable of having very positive effects on
the sector provided that the Soludo solution which stipulates N25 billion
capital base for banks, is allowed to work.
Speaking at an NCC workshop for journalists over the weekend,
Okonkwo who is the boss of Chintos Communications observed that as the disposed
plastic bags of pure water have become a threat to our environment, the
disposed cards could even be worse, the reason being that most of the cards are
made with very hard substance that can resist any condition for generations.
For this reason, he counseled that "efforts must be made as the use of cards
increases to think of the environment. All plastic manufacturers must ensure
therefore that cards are easily disposable."
Mr. Okonkwo is not just an alarmist but a concerned patriot
and businessman who is taking the overall interest of the country into
consideration, far above his business. He is one of the exponents of the card
business and a major beneficiary of its efficiency in the transaction of
telecom business. A former lead player in the Reltel setup, Okonkwo's platform
at the time was one of the earliest organisations to introduce pre-paid into
the Fixed Wireless sector using pre-paid cards. At Chintos, the business will
be substiantially cards and he confessed that there is a huge market since
millions of cards are used daily in the country.
The title of his paper in the three-day retreat was "Cards,
Cards and Cards, the Future of Telecom. Looking into history and tracing the
various strands of developments of the card technology, Mr. Okonkwo came to the
conclusion that the technology was one of the best things to happen to the
telecom sector as it enables the operators to collect their money well in
advance, even before any call or business in done with the phone.
According to him, "Cards are purely a collection mechanism
for their services. But the beauty is the efficiency in the use of revenue
collection."
In this past few years, however, this has actually been very
noticeable as the coming of cards has removed the debt portfolio which was the
biggest plague of the telecom sector in the days of yore. The huge money owed
NITEL today was accumulated in the past because of its payment system which
allowed the subscriber free use of his phone until bill is sent to him and
payment is expected to be made in sincerity. But sincerity, is a very scarce
commodity in the business community and Nitel today is trying to get out of the
hole.
This may explain why only recently the new management
contractors, Pentascope announced that it will soon introduce pre-paid into the
Nitel platform for efficiency and increased returns.
But where was Nigeria when organizations like AT&T was
reaping global funds from pre-paid cards? Mr. Okonkwo averred that it is never
too late as our telecom sector is only now opening up because of the
deregulation policy of the government.
He gave the credit to the GSM companies for promoting the use
of cards and making them very popular in the country, adding that henceforth
the telecom landscape has been altered eternally for good as technology can
only improve from where it is now.
But in speaking for ATCON President, Mr. Charles Joseph , Mr.
Gerry Ekesiani in a very animated paper noted that the government is moving
towards the right direction with their new policy shift. The only concern
however is that the banks should work earnestly to ensure that government plans
see the light of the day so that the manufacturing sector can benefit.
He remarked that already the policy to increase banks capital
base is causing a squeeze in the sector thus threatening a situation that is
already very fragile. Mr. Ekesiani observed that the banks are already
recalling their moneys from customers while shutting the door against further
lending.
Mr. Ekesiani pledged that ATCON will support all government
policies that are aimed at putting phones in the hands of Nigerian people.
8/20/2004 12:09:00 PM
Source:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200408161246.html
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