by Kevin Pamba
Telikom PNG finally makes
its presence felt
Twelve months ago, no one would
imagine Telikom PNG forking out K300,000 to support the PNG
Kumuls campaign in the 2008 rugby league World Cup in Australia.
Few months after dishing out one of the largest sum of money to
a single sport, the 52-year-old State-owned telecommunication
monopoly donated a further K30,000 to the South Pacific
Games-bound Team PNG.
It is too good to be a coincidence that Telikom has suddenly
woke up to demonstrate some corporate responsibility towards the
needy in the community on the eve of the arrival of competitors
– Digicel and GreenCom.
Telikom hardly featured in such community obligation gestures
while many companies in the private sector have been donating
millions of kina to charity and sports over the years.
Now we find Telikom aggressively promoting itself with full-page
advertisements in the press and elaborate commercials on the
broadcast media.
That’s extra income for the media that was not there.
It is running competitions with giveaway prizes through the
media and providing discounted calls on certain days.
Again, these marketing gestures were hardly part of Telikom’s
corporate culture 12 months ago.
Telikom was corporatised 10 years ago.
But the company hardly marketed and promoted itself with the
present level of aggression.
Without competition and a monopoly market at its disposal, there
was no need for Telikom to do what it is doing now.
The response to people who complained about poor or lack of
services, looked as though they were told to “go to hell”, to
borrow the political quote of last week, or they had to be
patient.
Telikom’s mobile telephone off-shoot, Pacific Mobile with its
product, B Mobile, appeared to follow the footstep of its parent
company in its approach to customer care and quality of service.
Not a week seemed to pass by without someone out there
complaining about the services of B Mobile since its launch few
years ago.
This attitude flew in the face of a dedicated public who formed
a beeline to the B Mobile outlets to connect to the network that
saw it expanding rapidly across the country.
The nation went into mobile phone frenzy as kids, students,
parents and even the bubus all went out of their way to get
connected to the B Mobile network. This overwhelming patronage
was greeted with a myriad of problems on the network – from
delayed text messages, to overcharging to congestion.
This happened to a government-owned monopoly mobile telephone
service that was hardly cheap by Third World standards, let
alone First World prices.
The cost to the average customer began with K125 upfront to get
connected to the B Mobile service. No other price or discount
was available.
That was until over a week ago when the price of the B Mobile
start-up kit came tumbling down to a mere K25.
Not only is the start-up kit that cheap now but it is going with
a ‘free’ K10 call credit.
B Mobile’s discounts and specials coincided with those offered
by Digicel as part of its launch in Lae and Port Moresby at the
same time.
Digicel and Telikom/B Mobile are running neck in neck in the
advertising and marketing game in the media and again that is
new income and business for the the media that was never there.
And of course, there other benefits such as Digicel reportedly
employing over 300 Papua New Guineans.
Apart from the government bodies fighting each other over the
arrival of Digicel, it is wonderful watching the customers being
given due consideration with specials, discounts and choices.
