Safe Water for Nigerian Children, a collaborative project of leading consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble and renowned NGO, Society for Family Health (SFH) is donating 48,000 sachets of PUR, P&G’s not-for-profit purifier of water providing 480,000 litres of safe drinking water to the people of Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe and Adamawa states in response to the cholera outbreak in these states.
According to the Minister of Health, Prof. Christian Onyebuchi Chukwu over 7,000 cases of cholera infection has been recorded in all the affected states since June when the alarm of the first outbreak was raised.
P&G and SFH made their donations of PUR purifier of water to the state Ministries of Health and plans to do the same in other states affected by the deadly epidemic.
Reacting to the donation, in Borno state, the Honorable Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Kazim Shettima said “cholera has become a recurring decimal in Borno state due to the lack of safe drinking water in some parts of the state. We are deeply grateful to Procter and Gamble for taking it upon themselves to make provisions for safe drinking water for the affected victims with this donation of PUR.”
Since January, 2008, the ‘Safe Water for Nigerian Children’ project has provided over 20 million litres of safe drinking water in semi-urban and rural communities in Nigeria through the use of P&G’s PUR Purifier of Water®. This project is a part of P&G Children’s' Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) program, the flagship of its corporate social responsibility platform, Live, Learn & Thrive that helps children in need around the world.
According to Manoj Kumar, the Managing Director, P&G West Africa, “We are pleased to partner with Society for Family Health to help improve people’s lives in communities affected by this health crisis - that’s our purpose as a company. While PUR is certainly not the only solution, it plays an important role in preventing the spread of the disease by providing safe drinking water to people in these communities.”
PUR, which was developed jointly by Procter & Gamble and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been shown to reduce diarrhea illness by an average 50 per cent in controlled health intervention studies.
PUR has been used to help respond to several emergency relief situations, including the Tsunami in Asia, hurricanes in the Caribbean, floods in the Philippines and Bangladesh, the Myanmar Cyclone disaster and recently the Haiti disaster
P&G’s corporate social responsibility platform: Live, Learn and Thrive (LLT). LLT focuses on the development of children between ages 0-13 by ensuring a healthy start for children (Live), providing access to places and tools to learn (Learn), and providing access to programs that build self-esteem, empowerment and interpersonal/social skills (Thrive).
Monday, September 27, 2010
STARCOMMS CUSTOMERS TO ENJOY BETTER SIGNALS AS THE COMPANY EXPANDS NETWORK
In its continuous bid to give customers better and superior experience, Starcomms Plc has expanded its network by deploying more cell sites on air in diverse locations across the country. This new step will boost the quality of service that customers enjoy on the Starcomms network.
Cell sites are responsible for the transmission of radio waves, to which calls are converted, from one cell phone or data device to another phone or data device on the same network or on other networks. Where there are enough cell sites to cover a wide area, the range of each is set to ensure that there is enough overlap for "handover" to and from others.
The size of a site depends on the area of coverage that’s needed and the number of calls that are made in that area. Increasing the number of sites implies that Starcomms has the capacity to accept and transmit more number of calls as well as cover a wider geographical range, giving out clearer signals.
With the new network expansion drive, customers of Starcomms can now begin to enjoy the best Quality of Service in places like Lagos, Enugu, Jos, Bauchi, Umuahia and Onitsha where many of the new sites have become operational. This means that call interruptions or “dropped calls’, are now a thing of the past on Starcomms network.
The chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms, Tushar Maheshwari said: “Telecommunications customers that preferred Starcomms network are increasing in number by the hour. This has put us on our toes. More sites often imply not just better coverage but also a better quality of service.
For instance, for us to provide services that will delight customers in areas where mobile phones used on our network are numerous and where there is more demand on us to deliver fast data services we need more sites.
That is why in keeping with our commitment to our teeming customers, we began this network expansion project. Our intention is to raise technological bar at all times with the sole purpose of attaining maximum efficiency for our customers all over the country.”
Starcomms has in recent times been delighting its customers with various innovations and enhanced services. Recently, before the ongoing network expansion activities of the company, it launched the Internet Protocol Call Centre, a state-of-the art customer service tool for better interactions with its customers.
Starcomms’ IPCC comes with a multilingual Interactive Voice Record service (IVR), which offers customers services in five languages: English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and pidgin. This allows Starcomms’ voice customers anywhere in the country to have the option of asking questions in any of the languages.
Such questions may include balance inquiries, tariff inquiry, tariff charge for roaming customers, dash me credit together with Caller Ring Back Tune (CRBT). The dedicated lines allow customers to directly enter into the self-care portal to get the help as they may require.
“We are aware of the need to be proactive in our line of business because we know that technological advancement is most pronounced in it. So as our customers increase, their needs are definitely increasing. So we meet them in their large numbers and at the very point of their needs,” said Meheshwari.
Cell sites are responsible for the transmission of radio waves, to which calls are converted, from one cell phone or data device to another phone or data device on the same network or on other networks. Where there are enough cell sites to cover a wide area, the range of each is set to ensure that there is enough overlap for "handover" to and from others.
The size of a site depends on the area of coverage that’s needed and the number of calls that are made in that area. Increasing the number of sites implies that Starcomms has the capacity to accept and transmit more number of calls as well as cover a wider geographical range, giving out clearer signals.
With the new network expansion drive, customers of Starcomms can now begin to enjoy the best Quality of Service in places like Lagos, Enugu, Jos, Bauchi, Umuahia and Onitsha where many of the new sites have become operational. This means that call interruptions or “dropped calls’, are now a thing of the past on Starcomms network.
The chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms, Tushar Maheshwari said: “Telecommunications customers that preferred Starcomms network are increasing in number by the hour. This has put us on our toes. More sites often imply not just better coverage but also a better quality of service.
For instance, for us to provide services that will delight customers in areas where mobile phones used on our network are numerous and where there is more demand on us to deliver fast data services we need more sites.
That is why in keeping with our commitment to our teeming customers, we began this network expansion project. Our intention is to raise technological bar at all times with the sole purpose of attaining maximum efficiency for our customers all over the country.”
Starcomms has in recent times been delighting its customers with various innovations and enhanced services. Recently, before the ongoing network expansion activities of the company, it launched the Internet Protocol Call Centre, a state-of-the art customer service tool for better interactions with its customers.
Starcomms’ IPCC comes with a multilingual Interactive Voice Record service (IVR), which offers customers services in five languages: English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and pidgin. This allows Starcomms’ voice customers anywhere in the country to have the option of asking questions in any of the languages.
Such questions may include balance inquiries, tariff inquiry, tariff charge for roaming customers, dash me credit together with Caller Ring Back Tune (CRBT). The dedicated lines allow customers to directly enter into the self-care portal to get the help as they may require.
“We are aware of the need to be proactive in our line of business because we know that technological advancement is most pronounced in it. So as our customers increase, their needs are definitely increasing. So we meet them in their large numbers and at the very point of their needs,” said Meheshwari.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
STARCOMMS INTRODUCES STARVALUE PHONE
Driven by the passion to keep adding value to the telephone life of its teeming customers, Starcomms Plc, Nigeria’s innovative and multiple award winning telecommunications company has introduced a new StarValue CDMA sleek phone into the market. The new handset from Huawei branded StarValue comes with a slim and stylish look and feel, featuring a user-friendly interface for everyday use. It combines style with high performance, supports multiple functionalities and allows for the storage of contacts and text messages on the User Identity Module (UIM) card or in the phone memory, at a very affordable price of N1,999. According to the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, some exciting features of the phone that makes it worth having include the ability of its user to send and receive group SMS, preset SMS templates and store up to 1000 messages in the phone memory adding that the memory is shared by Inbox, Outbox, and Drafts. He further stated that the StarValue phone makes it easy for messages to be copied and exchanged between the phone memory and the User Identity Module (UIM) card. . The phone, which he said appeals to the taste of all mobile telephone services users has an audio recorder function which allows for playback, and deletion of audio clips, or setting an audio clip as the ring-tone adding that there are built-in 32-chord polyphonic ring-tones that enable users to enjoy wonderful music while using the handset The battery of the StarValue phone has a standby time of 200–250 hours power that comes with a five hours talk time and a light weight of 85 grams that makes it easy to carry as well as a good LCD display that gives clear image of characters. It will be recalled that Starcomms also recently introduced the Qiblah phone into the market, the phone which is targeted at the Muslim customers of Starcomms comes with an indicator setting that point to Mecca and comes complete with a compass and prayer time alarm functions.
The Qiblah indicator uses an inbuilt longitude and latitude orientation or city references that, when used in comparison to the magnetic north, indicates the direction of the Qiblah so that the Muslim can, from any place he is, know in what direction to face and pray.
A winner of several awards, including the prestigious Superbrand status, Starcomms is the first telecom company to introduce international roaming from CDMA to GSM phone.
The Qiblah indicator uses an inbuilt longitude and latitude orientation or city references that, when used in comparison to the magnetic north, indicates the direction of the Qiblah so that the Muslim can, from any place he is, know in what direction to face and pray.
A winner of several awards, including the prestigious Superbrand status, Starcomms is the first telecom company to introduce international roaming from CDMA to GSM phone.
STARCOMMS INTRODUCES STAR-ZONE FOR LOWER TARIFF IN SOME CITIES
Starcomms Plc, the only telecommunications firm listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, has in its quest to add value and also provide innovative and excellent service introduced a new package that will enable its customers in some cities make calls at reduced rates.
Known as the Star-Zone, the package offers Starcomms customers in Benin-City, Owerri, Uyo, Warri, Katsina, Enugu, Ogbomosho, Nnewi and Awka the opportunity to enjoy lower tariff.
Customers in these Star-Zone Cities stands the chance of enjoying on-net calls for N4 per minute during peak and off-peak period, for an initial period of Three months.
According to the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, once a customer leaves the affected cities he/she will no longer enjoy the benefit of the Star-Zone plan.
He also said that the Star-zone rate will not be applicable to those on Telemax, VPN or post paid.
Describing the new package as another of Starcomms response towards adding value to the life of its customers, he said that Starcomms has a robust range of services geared towards giving its customers value and optimized talk time adding that as “a Nigerian company, Starcomms is determined to continue giving its customers innovative packages”.
Mr. Maheshwari further stated that Starcomms innovative packages always comes with unique features that easily distinguish it as the brand of choice saying that the launch of various Value added services such as Inspirational SMS, listen to the Koran and the bible etc service attest to Starcomms desire to continue to exceed the expectations of its customers.
The Inspirational SMS is an inspirational service that provides Starcomms customers with a motivational guide while also offering them the opportunity to win fabulous airtime vouchers. To enjoy this service, a customer is expected to text the word WIN to a short code 33234 and instantly he/she receives an SMS with a number and inspirational quote.
If the number has 9 in it, he/she stands the chance of winning an instant airtime. Already over 7000 winners have emerged, winning airtime worth N2500 while at the same time enjoying the services of the motivational guide. Speaking further on the services of Starcomms, he said, “Beyond making it easy for our customers to talk, Starcomms is committed to providing quality, cutting-edge and affordable telecommunications services. The services that we make available to our customers are generally tailored towards making their lives easier and better. It is a commitment that we hold very dear in our relationship with them.”
Known as the Star-Zone, the package offers Starcomms customers in Benin-City, Owerri, Uyo, Warri, Katsina, Enugu, Ogbomosho, Nnewi and Awka the opportunity to enjoy lower tariff.
Customers in these Star-Zone Cities stands the chance of enjoying on-net calls for N4 per minute during peak and off-peak period, for an initial period of Three months.
According to the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, once a customer leaves the affected cities he/she will no longer enjoy the benefit of the Star-Zone plan.
He also said that the Star-zone rate will not be applicable to those on Telemax, VPN or post paid.
Describing the new package as another of Starcomms response towards adding value to the life of its customers, he said that Starcomms has a robust range of services geared towards giving its customers value and optimized talk time adding that as “a Nigerian company, Starcomms is determined to continue giving its customers innovative packages”.
Mr. Maheshwari further stated that Starcomms innovative packages always comes with unique features that easily distinguish it as the brand of choice saying that the launch of various Value added services such as Inspirational SMS, listen to the Koran and the bible etc service attest to Starcomms desire to continue to exceed the expectations of its customers.
The Inspirational SMS is an inspirational service that provides Starcomms customers with a motivational guide while also offering them the opportunity to win fabulous airtime vouchers. To enjoy this service, a customer is expected to text the word WIN to a short code 33234 and instantly he/she receives an SMS with a number and inspirational quote.
If the number has 9 in it, he/she stands the chance of winning an instant airtime. Already over 7000 winners have emerged, winning airtime worth N2500 while at the same time enjoying the services of the motivational guide. Speaking further on the services of Starcomms, he said, “Beyond making it easy for our customers to talk, Starcomms is committed to providing quality, cutting-edge and affordable telecommunications services. The services that we make available to our customers are generally tailored towards making their lives easier and better. It is a commitment that we hold very dear in our relationship with them.”
Monday, September 13, 2010
Caregivers, Community leaders Hail P&G for Building Futures
Caregivers and community leaders have been commending Procter & Gamble West Africa for the impact that its corporate social responsibility programme, Building Futures, is having on the children of the orphanages. The company, in partnership with Sponsor-a-child, a not-for-profit concern has commissioned two out of the five resource centres donated under the platform of Building Futures to orphanages around the country.
Caregivers praised P&G for the gesture of the company as the impact of the resource centres extend beyond the walls of the orphanages to children in their home communities that do not have regular access to similar facilities.
At the commissioning of the Learn and play centre, for the FOMWAN Orphanage set up by the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) community leaders commended the initiative which according to them went beyond just donating food and supplies to the children to keep their body alive but also help the children to grow and become anything they want to become in life.
The leader of the Oyo state chapter of FOMWAN Hajia Sururat Oyero, said that the benefits of the resource centre and the playground facilities are enormous and cannot be quantified. She said that the centre will stimulate the children to learning in early life as well as make them develop into Nigerians of great worth.
“He who gives knowledge has given it all; and for this we are very grateful to Procter and Gamble and Sponsor-a-Child for the wonderful impact they are having on the lives of Nigerians,” she said.
The Baale of Bodija community in Ibadan said that companies like P&G are more desirable in the community than some oil companies who will rather devastate the environment people live in than put anything back for the people in the community to benefit.
Before the Ibadan commissioning, the company had donated similar facilities to Citadel of Grace Mission orphanage In Igando Lagos State. The supervisor Citadel of Grace Orphanage, Christie Iyile, who was full of praise for the duo of P&G and Sponsor-a-child said that the children of the orphanage will for ever be grateful to the company.
Apart from the donations to orphanages, the company also sponsored the National Doctors Volunteer Programme of Sponsor-a-child in which a number of final year students of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos signed up to affect the lives of the underprivileged in any area of their posting during their house jobs or during their national youth service.
As volunteers in the programme, enrolled doctors are expected to participate actively in empowering care givers in orphanages through health educations; pro bono medical services for the underprivileged; and email based medical consultations. The next set of volunteers will focus on training care givers in various parts of the country with the Local Champion manuals prepared by Sponsor-A-Child.
Speaking at a programme presentation by Sponsor- a-Child, which was held at the old Great Hall of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, Lagos, the dean of the College of Medicine, Professor Adefule Ositelu enjoined the students to give full support to the programmes of Sponsor-a-Child and their sponsors noting that a lot of money is being misdirected by the rich in the country today.
“Therefore if some people are spending their money for the cause of the less privileged, they should be supported,” she said.
Caregivers praised P&G for the gesture of the company as the impact of the resource centres extend beyond the walls of the orphanages to children in their home communities that do not have regular access to similar facilities.
At the commissioning of the Learn and play centre, for the FOMWAN Orphanage set up by the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) community leaders commended the initiative which according to them went beyond just donating food and supplies to the children to keep their body alive but also help the children to grow and become anything they want to become in life.
The leader of the Oyo state chapter of FOMWAN Hajia Sururat Oyero, said that the benefits of the resource centre and the playground facilities are enormous and cannot be quantified. She said that the centre will stimulate the children to learning in early life as well as make them develop into Nigerians of great worth.
“He who gives knowledge has given it all; and for this we are very grateful to Procter and Gamble and Sponsor-a-Child for the wonderful impact they are having on the lives of Nigerians,” she said.
The Baale of Bodija community in Ibadan said that companies like P&G are more desirable in the community than some oil companies who will rather devastate the environment people live in than put anything back for the people in the community to benefit.
Before the Ibadan commissioning, the company had donated similar facilities to Citadel of Grace Mission orphanage In Igando Lagos State. The supervisor Citadel of Grace Orphanage, Christie Iyile, who was full of praise for the duo of P&G and Sponsor-a-child said that the children of the orphanage will for ever be grateful to the company.
Apart from the donations to orphanages, the company also sponsored the National Doctors Volunteer Programme of Sponsor-a-child in which a number of final year students of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos signed up to affect the lives of the underprivileged in any area of their posting during their house jobs or during their national youth service.
As volunteers in the programme, enrolled doctors are expected to participate actively in empowering care givers in orphanages through health educations; pro bono medical services for the underprivileged; and email based medical consultations. The next set of volunteers will focus on training care givers in various parts of the country with the Local Champion manuals prepared by Sponsor-A-Child.
Speaking at a programme presentation by Sponsor- a-Child, which was held at the old Great Hall of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, Lagos, the dean of the College of Medicine, Professor Adefule Ositelu enjoined the students to give full support to the programmes of Sponsor-a-Child and their sponsors noting that a lot of money is being misdirected by the rich in the country today.
“Therefore if some people are spending their money for the cause of the less privileged, they should be supported,” she said.
Odigbo Community Rejoices as Guinness Commissions Water of Life Project
It was like a carnival when the Guinness Water of Life project was commissioned in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Wednesday, August 25, 2010. The commissioning ceremony was attended by a mammoth crowd from Odigbo community, neighbouring towns and villages as well as traditional rulers from these towns.Also present at the commissioning were state government functionaries.
The people through their traditional ruler, Oba Daniel Akinloye expressed gratitude to Guinness Nigeria Plc for commissioning a mini waterworks to the community.
The Executive Governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, who was represented by the Commissioner for Adult Education and Vocational Studies, Mrs. Florence Kehinde Momoh, commended Guinness Nigeria for the gesture.
While calling on other corporate organizations to emulate Guinness Nigeria, the commissioner, who is also an Odigbo indigene, described the projects as a good example of public-private sector collaboration in the development of the rural communities of the state.
The Lisa of Odigbo, High Chief Godwin Akindileni: said “It is like magic. Guinness knew what was bothering us and responded to the needs of the people in this area. The Odigbo community is happy over this project. We hear banks declaring billions as profits all over the whole place without touching people’s lives in any way, Before now, you could not count up to ten boreholes in the town, there was serious stress for people whenever they seek to get potable water, but with this project, Guinness has done a great thing for this town and it is marvelous in our eyes. “
Unveiling the project, the representative of the Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria, Mr. Rory McMillan said “Providing potable water to communities in Nigeria is an integral part of our corporate citizenship agenda. This is because access to safe water has become a global concern with statistics of about 1 billion people globally living with no or poor access to potable water. Of this figure, 400 million live in Africa, Nigeria inclusive,”
He said the company had completed water projects in 11 other states in Nigeria. They include Anambra, Oyo, Ogun, Niger, Nassarawa, Abia, Rivers, Lagos, Edo, Benue and Imo states. All these efforts are a part of the demonstration of good corporate citizenship to which Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, is committed to through its Water of Life programme, which aims to provide water to one million Africans annually till 2015.
The Odigbo project is made up of boreholes, overhead storage tank, a water treatment machine, a distribution network and a standby power generating set.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Orunja of Odigbo kingdom, Oba Daniel Osebayo Adetula Akinloye commended the company and promised that the Kingdom will provide land for any development project that Guinness Nigeria Plc or any other corporate organisation will desire to embark upon in the town in the future.
“I express my heartfelt gratitude to Guinness Nigeria Plc and its efficient and very generous management.” he said
Furthermore, the Chairman of Odigbo Local Government Council, Dr. Moses Akinjiyan promised that the project will be well maintained and properly managed to make Guinness proud of Odigbo people. He also used the opportunity to reiterate to the people of the community, the need to own the project and use it properly so as to encourage increased involvement of private sector organizations in developing the communities.
PICTURE CAPTION
LEFT-RIGHT:Mr. Rory Macmillan, Director of Sales, Guinness Nigeria Plc., Chief Godwin Akindileni, the Lisa of Odigbo, Oba Daniel Osebayo Akinloye, the Orunja of Odigbo and Mrs. Florence Kehinde Momoh, the Ondo State Commissioner for Adult Education and Vocational Studies at the handing over of the key to the mini waterworks donated by Guinness to the Odigbo community in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Wednesday, August 25,2010.
LEFT-RIGHT:Mr. Rory Macmillan, Director of Sales, Guinness Nigeria Plc., Chief Godwin Akindileni, the Lisa of Odigbo, Oba Daniel Osebayo Akinloye, the Orunja of Odigbo and Mrs. Florence Kehinde Momoh, the Ondo State Commissioner for Adult Education and Vocational Studies at the handing over of the key to the mini waterworks donated by Guinness to the Odigbo community in Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Wednesday, August 25,2010.
Monday, September 6, 2010
HISENSE PROMO WINNERS PRAISE STARCOMMS FOR FAIRNESS
The first three winners of Hisense LCD television sets in the ongoing Starcomms Hisense C1110 Chatphone promotions have praised Starcomms Plc. for fairness and transparency in the draws that led to their victory in the exercise. Daramola Aruwaji, a contract staff at the Ojo campus of the Lagos State University, Michael Fidelis Anyanwu, a business man residing in Aba, Abia State and Fehintola Olulana, a tour operator in Lagos were at the headquarters of Starcomms Plc on Victoria Island to receive their prizes.
At the presentation of the prizes at the weekend, Daramola Aruwaji was elated to receive his 42 inches Hisense LCD television set from Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms.
“I believe I am a very lucky man. It was not the thought of winning that prompted me to buy the phone. The sales girls just brought the phones to the Staff Club at LASU where I was that day and it happened that I needed a sleek and attractive phone. So I bought one. Since then I have been browsing with it. I have been chatting with it and I have even checked out Post UME results for people through it. And now I have this giant TV to show for all this benefits. This is an incredible activity. Starcomms is telling the truth,” Aruwaji said.
For Anyanwu from Aba, who got a 32 inches TV set, the story was different. He said: “I am not new to Starcomms. I used all the ranges of Starcomms products for my calls and for my internet because of the reliable service that we get from them in Abia. I have always participated in all Starcomms promo religiously but I had never been lucky to win any prize. In fact I had gone to Starcomms office in Aba on one occasion to hala that I have always participated in promos but never won anything. So when I was called from Lagos last week that I won a TV set, I did not believe at first. But here I am. Starcomms is faithful to us customers. They are believable!”
Olulana, a tour operator in Lagos was presented with the third prize, a 26-inch LCD TV which she won in the draws. She said that when the call came to her that she won a television set it was with mixed feelings that she received it.
“I have been using Starcomms for five years. The Starcomms phone I was using got damaged and I wanted to change it for the same brand that I had used for many years. But fortunately the shop I went to was out of stock of that one so the sales people showed me this Hisense, which I liked. I was very skeptical when they said that I had won a TV set because I have heard of all kinds of scam that people fall prey to in Lagos, so I was defensive. Now on getting here I found that it is real. It is a wonderful promotion,” she said.
The promotion on the Starcomms Hisense C1110, called Chatphone, is still ongoing for all who buy it and activates their line. They have a chance to win LCD TV sets ranging in size from 26 inches to 42 inches. The phone comes with exciting features, especially internet connection that allows users to link up with their contacts on popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, Skype, Yahoo messenger and other internet services on the go and with ease.
Tushar Maheshwari, the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms told the prize winners that Starcomms will always look for ways to add value to the lives of its customers.
“The Chatphone promotion is a way of allowing some of our customers to experience Hisense in many ways. It is our practice to always offer our customers top of the range products so that their experience with Starcomms will be world standard. We are happy that the winners of the Hisense TV sets appreciate it. As the promo continues, we will not relent in giving out the best of services to them,” Maheshwari said.
At the presentation of the prizes at the weekend, Daramola Aruwaji was elated to receive his 42 inches Hisense LCD television set from Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms.
“I believe I am a very lucky man. It was not the thought of winning that prompted me to buy the phone. The sales girls just brought the phones to the Staff Club at LASU where I was that day and it happened that I needed a sleek and attractive phone. So I bought one. Since then I have been browsing with it. I have been chatting with it and I have even checked out Post UME results for people through it. And now I have this giant TV to show for all this benefits. This is an incredible activity. Starcomms is telling the truth,” Aruwaji said.
For Anyanwu from Aba, who got a 32 inches TV set, the story was different. He said: “I am not new to Starcomms. I used all the ranges of Starcomms products for my calls and for my internet because of the reliable service that we get from them in Abia. I have always participated in all Starcomms promo religiously but I had never been lucky to win any prize. In fact I had gone to Starcomms office in Aba on one occasion to hala that I have always participated in promos but never won anything. So when I was called from Lagos last week that I won a TV set, I did not believe at first. But here I am. Starcomms is faithful to us customers. They are believable!”
Olulana, a tour operator in Lagos was presented with the third prize, a 26-inch LCD TV which she won in the draws. She said that when the call came to her that she won a television set it was with mixed feelings that she received it.
“I have been using Starcomms for five years. The Starcomms phone I was using got damaged and I wanted to change it for the same brand that I had used for many years. But fortunately the shop I went to was out of stock of that one so the sales people showed me this Hisense, which I liked. I was very skeptical when they said that I had won a TV set because I have heard of all kinds of scam that people fall prey to in Lagos, so I was defensive. Now on getting here I found that it is real. It is a wonderful promotion,” she said.
The promotion on the Starcomms Hisense C1110, called Chatphone, is still ongoing for all who buy it and activates their line. They have a chance to win LCD TV sets ranging in size from 26 inches to 42 inches. The phone comes with exciting features, especially internet connection that allows users to link up with their contacts on popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, Skype, Yahoo messenger and other internet services on the go and with ease.
Tushar Maheshwari, the Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms told the prize winners that Starcomms will always look for ways to add value to the lives of its customers.
“The Chatphone promotion is a way of allowing some of our customers to experience Hisense in many ways. It is our practice to always offer our customers top of the range products so that their experience with Starcomms will be world standard. We are happy that the winners of the Hisense TV sets appreciate it. As the promo continues, we will not relent in giving out the best of services to them,” Maheshwari said.
PICTURE CAPTION
LEFT-RIGHT: Mrs. Omolara Ojo, Starcomms’ human resources manager; Michael Fidelis Anyanwu , an Aba-based businessman and winner of 32 inches LCD TV set, Ms. Fehintola Olulana, a Lagos-based tour operator and winner of the 26 inches LCD TV set with Mr. Jaspreet Singh, Starcomms’ Deputy Director, Consumer Business unit at the presentation of Hisense LCD TV sets to winners of the Starcomms’ Hisense chat phone promotion at the company’s headquarters in Lagos on August 27, 2010.
LEFT-RIGHT: Tushar Maheshwari, Chief Commercial Officer Starcomms, presents a 42-inch LCD television set to Damilola Aruwaji, a staff of Lagos State University LASU, the winner of the star prize of the Starcomms’ Hisense chat phone promotion at the company’s headquarters in Lagos on August 27,2010.
LEFT-RIGHT: Mrs. Omolara Ojo, Starcomms’ human resources manager; Michael Fidelis Anyanwu , an Aba-based businessman and winner of 32 inches LCD TV set, Ms. Fehintola Olulana, a Lagos-based tour operator and winner of the 26 inches LCD TV set with Mr. Jaspreet Singh, Starcomms’ Deputy Director, Consumer Business unit at the presentation of Hisense LCD TV sets to winners of the Starcomms’ Hisense chat phone promotion at the company’s headquarters in Lagos on August 27, 2010.
LEFT-RIGHT: Tushar Maheshwari, Chief Commercial Officer Starcomms, presents a 42-inch LCD television set to Damilola Aruwaji, a staff of Lagos State University LASU, the winner of the star prize of the Starcomms’ Hisense chat phone promotion at the company’s headquarters in Lagos on August 27,2010.
Starcomms introduces Special Islamic Handset
In the spirit of celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, Nigeria’s leading telecommunications operator, Starcomms Plc is offering its Muslim customers the opportunity of purchasing and owning a unique handset, the Qiblah, exclusively equipped with integrated features that are tailor-made to meet the needs of fasting and praying Muslims. The introduction of the handset by Starcomms comes as little surprise, considering the company’s track-record of availing its customers with innovative products and services that always anticipate their needs and requirements.
The new phone has an indicator setting which points to Mecca and comes complete with a compass and prayer time alarm functions. The Qiblah indicator uses an inbuilt longitude and latitude orientation or city references that, when used in comparison to the magnetic north, indicates the direction of the Qiblah so that the Muslim can, from any place he is, know in what direction to face and pray. The Qiblah in Islam is the compass that shows the direction that Muslims face to pray wherever they are.
Also, Starcomms has introduced a promotional airtime package for the benefit of customers who purchase the handset. They are to enjoy discounted calls during off peak periods and low cost calls to Saudi Arabia during the Ramadan period. Other customers of Starcomms are also to enjoy discounted calls on off peak and low cost calls during the period.
Speaking on the functionality of the Qiblah phones, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms noted that very often it is difficult to determine the four cardinal points when one is constantly on the move.
Therefore, it may not be easy to determine the Qiblah when it is time to pray for a Muslim whose routine requires moving around. With the aid of the compass installed in the phone, a Muslim customer of Starcomms can easily know which direction to face at prayer time.
The Qiblah phones are designed with colourful Islamic visual features, such as lovely wall papers and screen savers as well as inspiring ring-tones. The phone is also a channel for the customer to enjoy the Listen-To-Quran service of Starcomms, which is the first of its kind in the country. The service is designed to update and increase the knowledge of Muslim customers on the tenets of Islam as well as allow them have access to the Holy book anytime anywhere on
their Starcomms phones.
Customers can access Listen-To-Quran by simply dialing *786 on their Starcomms phones to access the IVR mode to select any particular Surah of Holy Quran and continue listening at fixed cost of N25 per hour.
Maheshwari explained that Starcomms has often paid attention to the needs of particular sections of the society stating that during festive periods, it gave special packages to its customers.
Another innovation and first from Starcomms, which all including the Muslim faithful will enjoy while away from Nigeria during the Ramadan fast, is the international inter standard roaming from CDMA to GSM that the award winning telecommunications company just introduced.
It is the first time in the world that a CDMA telecommunication operator is providing its customers the opportunity to enjoy international roaming. The implication of this development is that Starcomms customers do not need to change their numbers whenever they travel out of Nigeria.
The roaming service is made possible through an agreement signed on March 23, 2010 by Starcomms with MACH, the leading provider of hub-based mobile applications exchange solutions and Accuris Network, the leading provider of Inter-standard and converged solutions.
The new phone has an indicator setting which points to Mecca and comes complete with a compass and prayer time alarm functions. The Qiblah indicator uses an inbuilt longitude and latitude orientation or city references that, when used in comparison to the magnetic north, indicates the direction of the Qiblah so that the Muslim can, from any place he is, know in what direction to face and pray. The Qiblah in Islam is the compass that shows the direction that Muslims face to pray wherever they are.
Also, Starcomms has introduced a promotional airtime package for the benefit of customers who purchase the handset. They are to enjoy discounted calls during off peak periods and low cost calls to Saudi Arabia during the Ramadan period. Other customers of Starcomms are also to enjoy discounted calls on off peak and low cost calls during the period.
Speaking on the functionality of the Qiblah phones, Mr. Tushar Maheshwari, Chief Commercial Officer of Starcomms noted that very often it is difficult to determine the four cardinal points when one is constantly on the move.
Therefore, it may not be easy to determine the Qiblah when it is time to pray for a Muslim whose routine requires moving around. With the aid of the compass installed in the phone, a Muslim customer of Starcomms can easily know which direction to face at prayer time.
The Qiblah phones are designed with colourful Islamic visual features, such as lovely wall papers and screen savers as well as inspiring ring-tones. The phone is also a channel for the customer to enjoy the Listen-To-Quran service of Starcomms, which is the first of its kind in the country. The service is designed to update and increase the knowledge of Muslim customers on the tenets of Islam as well as allow them have access to the Holy book anytime anywhere on
their Starcomms phones.
Customers can access Listen-To-Quran by simply dialing *786 on their Starcomms phones to access the IVR mode to select any particular Surah of Holy Quran and continue listening at fixed cost of N25 per hour.
Maheshwari explained that Starcomms has often paid attention to the needs of particular sections of the society stating that during festive periods, it gave special packages to its customers.
Another innovation and first from Starcomms, which all including the Muslim faithful will enjoy while away from Nigeria during the Ramadan fast, is the international inter standard roaming from CDMA to GSM that the award winning telecommunications company just introduced.
It is the first time in the world that a CDMA telecommunication operator is providing its customers the opportunity to enjoy international roaming. The implication of this development is that Starcomms customers do not need to change their numbers whenever they travel out of Nigeria.
The roaming service is made possible through an agreement signed on March 23, 2010 by Starcomms with MACH, the leading provider of hub-based mobile applications exchange solutions and Accuris Network, the leading provider of Inter-standard and converged solutions.
STARCOMMS, QUBAIN SHINE AT TOP CELEBRITIES AWARDS
Starcomms Plc., Nigeria’s highly innovative telecommunications company reaffirmed its leadership in its area of operations at the weekend, having been voted by the Nigerian public as the CDMA company of the year in the well attended Top Celebrities Achievers Award.
At the award ceremony, which rallied who-is-who in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy, the chief executive officer of Starcomms, Maher Qubain was also named the Telecommunications Personality of the year.
According to the organizers of the event, Starcomms Plc has proved to the world that the best can come out of Nigeria. Starcomms, the first Nigerian telecommunication company to be quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange has been achieving many feats in the country and has been taking many bold steps as a CDMA company in recent times.
One major achievement of the company mentioned, is its recent offering of roaming services to its customers so that wherever they go in the world they can be reached on their Starcomms mobile phones. This service, which used to be offered all over the world only by GSM companies makes Starcomms the first CDMA company in the world to offer inter-standard roaming facility. The huge investments of Starcomms in the Internet Protocol Contact Centre, was also taken note of by the award organizers. The IPCC allows easy interactions between Starcomms and its customers in five languages and helps customers to pull through any challenge that they may have with their phones.
Starcomms was also praised for being the first CDMA company to latch on to Main One Cable, the new undersea optic fiber cable, linking Nigeria and the rest of West Africa to Europe. This will enable the company to maintain its leadership in the provision of internet access in the country.
The company’s managing director, Maher Qubain was lauded for his dexterity at striking a balance among the growth of the company, the interest of the shareholders and pleasing the customers.
“Qubain has sustained the business of Starcomms in situations where many CDMA companies were floundering. The company under Qubain continues to grow in subscriber base in the face of all business challenges,” noted the award organizers.
In a response to this recognition, the CEO of Starcomms, Maher Qubain expressed his appreciation to the organizers of the awards, noting that his achievements and those of Starcomms are not without the unwavering supports of the customers and staff of the company.
“We received the Top Celebrities Achievers Award with much appreciation and a high sense of responsibility. We consider it a nudge from the organizers for us to continue to work harder at remaining ahead in all our undertakings,” Qubain said.
PICTURE CAPTION
LEFT-RIGH: Vipul Parmar, Manager-Customer Service, Starcomms Plc and Trino Guzman, Head - Engineering Department, holding the plaques of the Telecom personality of the Year, won by Starcomms MD Maher Qubain and CDMA company of the year won by Starcomms Plc at the Top Celebrity Achievers Awards held at 10-degrees Event Centre on Sunday, August 29,2010 with Alex Ikidi, Enterprise Business Executive of Starcomms
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