16 May 2007
Batelco's investment in Yemen is yielding great results with the sales figures for Sabafon on track for the first quarter of the financial year. Speaking to the media in Sana'a, the chairman of Batelco, Shaikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, said its investment in Sabafon the premier GSM operator in Yemen was paying off since the industry was increasing its base at a rapid pace in a market where the penetration of mobiles was less than 20 per cent. He also reiterated the fact that Batelco would aggressively look to explore markets in the MENA and North African region.
It was also revealed that Batelco which had a 20 per cent stake in Sabafon will also exercise an option to increase it to 26 per cent in the next year and a half. Sabafon, one of three operators in Yemen, is aiming to garner more subscribers in a market that presently has a total of 2.8 million subscribers.
Sabafon claims to have 1.7 million customers and aims to reach 2 million in the next few months.
The confidence of the management stems from the fact that 50 per cent of the population is under fifteen and 55 per cent of the population is female and the majority of them, for cultural reasons, do not yet use a mobile phone but are inclined to be seen as a lucrative and potential market.
Sabafon chairman Shaikh Hamid Al Ahmer said: "We have a coverage in 92 per cent of the country and despite the fact that a fourth operator will be entering the market in July we are confident we will retain 55 per cent to 60 per cent of the market. Every year we have over 500,000 to 600,000 new subscribers join the family, so to speak.This is a period of great change in Yemeni society and the cost of acquiring a connection is falling every year. We experience normal churn rates and we intend to achieve our goals in this market."
The company has set up over 5000 sales points all over the country.
Sabafon, which was launched in 2001, has made attempts to re-engineer Yemeni society. It has 80 girls working in the organisation out of a total staff of 816. The HR Director Shuhd Ali Basahi said, "We require competent people on the jobs and we do not discriminate on the basis of sex. The organisation spent over two hundred thousand dollars on training with a focus on our technical staff. At present we have six expatriates in high profile positions and we hope in the future to train and develop senior personnel for various sales positions."
The education of subscribers was vital and on-going job for the company. The call centre received 18,000 calls a day of which it was able to answer 12,000.
The Director Customer service Darren Paul Harris said, "We get calls from guys who want to talk to them and it has to be dealt with firmly. About 8 per cent of all calls are from people who want to play around. They want to know the time and other general stuff. The majority of calls come from people who are not comfortable with the technology. The young people in this country are adapting very well to that level of technology."
Batelco's investment in Yemen is yielding great results with the sales figures for Sabafon on track for the first quarter of the financial year. Speaking to the media in Sana'a, the chairman of Batelco, Shaikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, said its investment in Sabafon the premier GSM operator in Yemen was paying off since the industry was increasing its base at a rapid pace in a market where the penetration of mobiles was less than 20 per cent. He also reiterated the fact that Batelco would aggressively look to explore markets in the MENA and North African region.
It was also revealed that Batelco which had a 20 per cent stake in Sabafon will also exercise an option to increase it to 26 per cent in the next year and a half. Sabafon, one of three operators in Yemen, is aiming to garner more subscribers in a market that presently has a total of 2.8 million subscribers.
Sabafon claims to have 1.7 million customers and aims to reach 2 million in the next few months.
The confidence of the management stems from the fact that 50 per cent of the population is under fifteen and 55 per cent of the population is female and the majority of them, for cultural reasons, do not yet use a mobile phone but are inclined to be seen as a lucrative and potential market.
Sabafon chairman Shaikh Hamid Al Ahmer said: "We have a coverage in 92 per cent of the country and despite the fact that a fourth operator will be entering the market in July we are confident we will retain 55 per cent to 60 per cent of the market. Every year we have over 500,000 to 600,000 new subscribers join the family, so to speak.This is a period of great change in Yemeni society and the cost of acquiring a connection is falling every year. We experience normal churn rates and we intend to achieve our goals in this market."
The company has set up over 5000 sales points all over the country.
Sabafon, which was launched in 2001, has made attempts to re-engineer Yemeni society. It has 80 girls working in the organisation out of a total staff of 816. The HR Director Shuhd Ali Basahi said, "We require competent people on the jobs and we do not discriminate on the basis of sex. The organisation spent over two hundred thousand dollars on training with a focus on our technical staff. At present we have six expatriates in high profile positions and we hope in the future to train and develop senior personnel for various sales positions."
The education of subscribers was vital and on-going job for the company. The call centre received 18,000 calls a day of which it was able to answer 12,000.
The Director Customer service Darren Paul Harris said, "We get calls from guys who want to talk to them and it has to be dealt with firmly. About 8 per cent of all calls are from people who want to play around. They want to know the time and other general stuff. The majority of calls come from people who are not comfortable with the technology. The young people in this country are adapting very well to that level of technology."
By Ajit John Sana?a
© Bahrain Tribune 2007
