Starcomms may invest $50m on expansion

The company’s Managing Director, Mr. Logan Pather, who briefed journalists on the company’s expansion plans in Lagos yesterday disclosed that arrangements are in place to roll out more of the company’s outlets to cities which would add value to the company’s bottom line.

Commenting on the cost of providing its service nationwide, Pather said, “For us to provide very efficient and improved service nationwide, it will cost about $50m to $60m which we don’t have. But there is a plan that is being worked out and when successful we should be able to link the entire country without building base stations round the country.

We hope it will work out because at the moment we don’t have the huge money needed for expansion. He therefore called on shareholders to bear with the company, as no dividend would be paid to them in the current financial year. According to him, “The expansion of the business will definitely generate greater returns for shareholders in the future. My agenda is to ensure that the company survive despite its constraints. We want to drive revenue, while maintaining efficiency in our service delivery in order to maximise returns for all stakeholders.” He called on shareholders to exercise patience as it plans to enlarge its reach nationwide in order to make better returns in the nearest future.

According to him, “Starcomms value its customers greatly and has been doing everything possible to enhance its service delivery. Efficiency is what we are after as we are the pioneer of most of the telecoms technology in Nigeria. We normally have monthly forum with our customers to ensure we service them better” He lamented the high cost of doing business in Nigeria, saying “We have decided to cut our operating cost, even though our revenue is dropping. The high cost is affecting our revenue and we have to deliver efficient service to our customers. For instance diesel that cost N100 before is N162 as at today which is on a high side.

So we are planning to enter into partnership with other organisations that will provide alternative power supply that will be regular and less costly in order to enhance our service delivery. We cannot pass the high cost to consumers because of the competition in the industry and we cannot raise tariff, so we are exploring ways that we will reduce operating cost and as well provide efficient service.”