Etisalat urges APCON to halt promo abuse

TELECOMS

By Kokumo Goodie, Lagos, Nigeria

The Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, has called on the regulatory body of advertising industry in Nigeria, the Advertising Practitioner’s Council of Nigeria (APCON), to highlight the issue of tariffs and probable misuse of promotional communication tools which can mislead consumers. ‘

Evans made this call when he led a delegation of top management from the telco to APCON's office. He said the body could offer assistance on the definition of certain terms used in the industry by some operators.

He said: “This is one area where we believe APCON, the regulatory body for advertising in Nigeria, can offer assistance in the definition of cases like ON-NET and OFF-NET offers specifically for telecommunication sector promotions.”

He said that as a late entrant into the telecommunications industry, it is apt to develop a definite strategy which will stand out and ensure success. He said: ‘"This for us at Etisalat has meant focusing on three prime areas, namely: innovation, quality of service, focusing on our customers and offering them the best products and transparent tariffs, and also offering our subscribers value for every kobo spent on our network.”

The Council Chairman, Lolu Akinwunmi, responded by commending the Etisalat team on their tireless pursuit of transparency which is being modelled through service presentations and corporate delivery. He also commended the team for the initiative to visit APCON to discuss challenges they face.

On the issue of integrity, the Chairman provided assurances that APCON wants to be seen as fair. The issue of integrity as it pertains to manipulation of words he says is an extremely difficult process to manage.

‘’APCON encourages quality and versatility of information because with every approval given by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), APCON must be able to substantiate it,” he concluded.