Chief Executive Officer Leap Communications, Mr. Muyiwa Akintunde, talks about why his mobile phone is a priceless possession, among other things.
Can you do without your phone?
No. It is not possible to do without a phone now because it is getting more useful than what it used to be. Then, most people used it as email, for alarm or watch, but today we have lots of applications for communication within small and large groups. It is much easier now to communicate with the world with the mobile phone.
GSM has been in Nigeria for a while, how has this impacted on your business?
In terms of communication and online presence, the mobile phone has done great things, when you talk about achieving desired result. Many business growth or success stories lie in the fact that communication was perfected and concluded before a physical meeting where possible.
Have you ever been frustrated by networks while trying to make an important call?
Frustration caused by drop calls comes in regularly because of the environment where facilities are indequate and infrastructure is not well developed as in other countries.
When you talk of broadband, we are not there yet. I had an experience sometime ago in the United States of America, where I was on the road for eight hours and I used my phone all through. There was no downtime or poor voice quality. I keep asking myself, when in 2001 GSM was introduced in Nigeria , all of us knew how difficult it was accessing business associates, families and friends; but now, it has done much in people’s lives but it could still do more.
What is the way forward?
The networks should continue to improve their services and see their customers as the reason that they are still in business. Customers keep complaining all the time, it takes away the connection between them and their customers. I understand their challeges, the infrastructure is not there and they have to invest hugely. But the important thing is that they have to ensure that they satisfy their subscribers always.
How do you feel when you forget your phone, misplace or lose it?
I am usually not myself. But I have also misplaced my phones on two different occassions. What I will also advise people to do now is, if you must lose your phone, don’t lose your information, ensure there is a backup stored in the cloud.
When I lost my phones, I knew, I lost something. It was not really painful but it, however, affected me.