New Era.... Etisalat Nigeria changes name to 9Mobile

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Etisalat Nigeria on Thursday changed its
brand name to 9 Mobile .
The change of name , it was gathered , was
approved at a management meeting , with the
public relations consultant to the telco, Chain
Reactions, confirming the development .
Chain Reactions, promised to send in an
official statement to that effect but had yet to
do so as of the time of filing this report.
“ 9 Mobile was unanimously adopted by the
company as its new brand name , ” an insider
in Etisalat Nigeria said .
The Vice President , Regulatory and Corporate
Affairs , Etisalat Nigeria , Ibrahim Dikko , had
earlier this week dropped a hint as to what the
new name of the company could be . He
recalled that at the launch of the company in
Nigeria in 2008 , ‘ 0809 ja’ was adopted to affirm
the “ Nigerianness ” of its origin and the
company ’ s sphere of influence .
However, the Nigeria Communications
Commission said that aside changing its brand
name to ‘ 9 Mobile ’ , Etisalat Nigeria must also
change its logo and colour .
The commission noted , however , that the
telecommunications company had yet to brief
it on the change of brand name.
“ I am not privy to any letter to that effect ,
neither is the Nigerian Communications
Commission , ” the Director , Public Affairs ,
NCC , Mr . Tony Ojobo , said .
“ However, brand change involves a lot of
processes. The company will need a new logo ,
colour and even have to call the subscribers to
a forum to announce the change of brand
name properly . This must be done after they
might have informed the regulator , ” he added .
Ojobo said the possible adoption of 9 Mobile as
a new brand name by Etisalat Nigeria might
be an internal decision of the telecoms firm to
meet the three weeks ultimatum given to it by
the parent company in Abu Dhabi , the United
Arab Emirates .
He had earlier said that the telecoms regulator
would check the financial health of other
operators following Etisalat Nigeria ’ s default
on the repayment of a $ 1 . 2 bn loan .
“ We need to check the books to detect failings
on time , ” Ojobo said, adding that the law
setting up the NCC empowered it to conduct
such checks .
He also said that the commission must
approve any new investor with over 10 per
cent of shares in a telecoms firm .
Etisalat Nigeria ’ s lenders have taken control
of the management of the company and
placed the shares in the custody of a loan
trustee .
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Etisalat
Nigeria ’ s rescue had put the country ’ s banks
in a quandary as they prepare for half - year
results due this month , as they did not know
whether to provision for loans to the company
until they could work out its value .
A banking source said that the lenders first
wanted to determine Etisalat Nigeria ’ s free
cash flow to help them value the business
before deciding on whether to impair the
assets or hold on to find new investors .
“ No bank is talking about restructuring now ,
but it might get to that later once we are able
to ascertain the true value of the company , ”
the source said .