Description
CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Information Over the years the Telecommunication industry has grown to become a vital aspect of the prosperity levels of developed and developing economies. Through activities of the industry, opportunities are given towards effective and low cost search and exchange of information. According to Ahmad et al., (2011), the industry in recent times serves as a point sale to many organizations and companies across the globe through the provision of internet services. In Nigeria six Mobile Telecommunication operators play the role of offering various services in their sector to consumers, making it one of the keenest competitive industries in the country and across Africa. The main mobile telecommunication operators in Nigeria are MTN, Vodafone, Airtel, Expresso, Globacom (Glo) and Globacom (Glo) (Sam and Buabeng, 2011). The privatization of the Nigeria Telecom Cooperation and the introduction of competition in the Telecommunication industry in 1996 paved way for the liberalization and deregulation of the telecom industry in Nigeria. The launching of the first cellular network in Nigeria took place in 1992 and has since then become one of the continents? widely used and popular mobile networks in relation to the earlier mentioned operators. Promotion has therefore become one of the most important factors in ensuring success in the industry in terms of attracting and retaining as many customers as possible. This is in line with the view of Sam and Buabeng (2011) that the telecom companies in Nigeria have literally taken over the airwaves and streets, flooding consumers with one promotion or another. Also, Teunter (2002) reveals that much has been spent on promotions as compared to advertising in recent years by various companies across the globe. Through the use of promotions, telecommunications companies develop their positions and brands and also appear to their subscribers in today?s rapidly growing market. In light of this, there has been a rise in the mobile telecommunication subscriber base in Nigeria from 4.9 million in 2006 to 28,419,649 in 2004 (Sam & Buabeng, 2011). Promotion strategies are implemented with the goals of keeping up with the current competition in the industry with the view of meeting the needs of customers. The various mobile operators seek to create awareness and also increase the usage rates of their products and services in order to attract and retain more customers (Kotler, 2007). Owing to the above, it is obvious that there are many areas related to the effects of promotional strategies on customer growth in the Nigerian mobile telecommunication industry hence the basis of this study. 1.2 Problem statement A number of tools use in marketing communication are being utilized by telecommunication providers in Nigeria in order to ensure the retention and expansion of their customer base. Sales promotions for instance is used in Nigeria by mobile operators as an approach to degrade the competitive nature of their competitors in the sector by offering lower prices or other incentives (Ahmed et al., 2012).