ZOOMmobile (RelTel Wireless)

distressed

Failure

Reliance Telecom Ltd (RelTel), one of the private telecommunications operators (known as PTOs in Nigeria), was licensed in May 1999 by the National Communication Commission to provide digital telephone service in Nigeria using the CDMA technology. Reliance was a Nigerian company with a capital structure composed of local and international financing. Reliance launched services in Lagos in November 2001, becoming the eighth operational PTO to offer a CDMA Fixed Wireless Network. The company's original Lagos network had an initial capacity of 50,000, but the company had expanded its network to Port Harcourt, Nnewi, Onitsha, and other major cities. In 2000, Reliance awarded a US$27 million contract for the supply of an advanced-code division multiple access (A-CDMA) fixed wireless system to the Canadian vendor, Nortel Networks. In April of 2003, Reliance awarded Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson a US$145 million order for a CDMA2000 1X mobile network. The network launched in the first half of 2003. Reltel had some 30,000 subscribers in Lagos by December 2002, and claimed about 100,000 subscribers by end 2005 in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Onitsha. The company had an installed capacity of about 1.2 million subscribers. Reltel was giving out it's Nokia 2285 phones with one month free of 24 hour Internet access to subscribers at N14,995. In 2011, Zoom/RelTel still boasted 315.000 subscribers. In May 2012, however, it was announced that Zoom Mobile would shut down its network. The company cited the weight of the lingering crisis, combined with losses and massive debts as the reasons for the 'suspension' of services. In 2012, the company still registered 111,077 subscribers. Chinese Bank Boosts Reltel With N2.6bn by Ken Nwogbo 373 words 30 January 2006 15:06 All Africa English (c) 2006 AllAfrica, All Rights Reserved Lagos, Jan 30, 2006 (Daily Champion/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Reltelwireless Limited, a private telecommunications operator (PTO), has secured $20 million (about N2.6 billion) facility from a Chinese bank to assist the company in its bid to position Reltelwireless as the biggest fixed company in Nigeria. The facility, seen as a vote of confidence in the fixed wireless operator, will further help position the company ahead of the unification of licences by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). N.B. Subscriber number has been 111,077 consistently over the last 8Q periods (as of June 2013), bringing the quality of the data into question. DEc (2005) - naira investments in 2005, creating 81,200 direct and indirect jobs during the period, the private Punch newspaper reported Thursday, quoting figures obtained from the regulatory Nigerian Communications Commission (N133 = 1 USD) The investments, from foreign and domestic investors, could top N500 billion by the end of the year, the paper said The breakdown of the invested amount showed it comprised ongoing and committed funds into network development and expansion, maintenance and marketing services Two of the country's four GSM companies, Vee Networks (Vmobile) and MTN, lead the pack of investors with N263 billion and N44.1 billion, respectively Fixed wireless networks, Starcomms and Reltel, are also said to be spending over three billion naira each, while others like MTS First Wireless, Multilinks and Rainbown

Information and communication technology (ICT)

World Bank Group

Project

Broadband, Forest Products and Packaging, Seaport, Telecommunications, Government, Commercial, Manufacturing (Industrial)