Bmobile-Vodafone committed to improving services

Caption:   Bmobile-Vodafone CEO Sundar Ramamurthy.

By MATTHEW VARI

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 (PNG)

BMOBILE-Vodafone Group CEO Sundar Ramamurthy has assured customers of the mobile company’s boost in service delivery, last week during its announcement of the ‘Get pawa’ electricity payment service.

The Group CEO admitted that the mobile communication provider lacked an effective present in suburban areas, but added that strategies such as the ‘Be your own boss’, campaign for reselling of mobile credits

Our ‘Be your own boss’ campaign, where we are asking people if they want to be a reseller- to be a reseller in PNG all you have to do is own a Bmobile-Vodafone phone, where you will get a discount when you buy from us,” Ramamurthy said.

“The aim for this is that every person within the community can be a reseller and it is not restricted to companies or businesses and is going at a 7 percent discount rate.”

He also touched on their continued efforts to upgrade their network in terms of data services, voice and SMS services that are at very competitive rates.

“We want to get that message to Papua New Guineans to try our network which we think is very different to the past,” he said.

“We are getting a lot more customers coming in and joining us now, which is a good sign and encourage those with queries to call us on our helpline 1555 and we will be very happy to help you with your questions.”

“There has always been the criticism as to why bmobile has not performed, I have been in your shoes for the last 20 years, and we have been here for the last 12 months.”

“I think you will start to notice that the new Bmobile-Vodafone is starting to get out there and that our service works.”

When asked on the ability of the carriers ability to handle increased data activity and maintaining the speed of connectivity with increased user- the CEO mentioned projects that are taking place to assist with alleviating traffic issue along the internet gateways.

“All I can say is that for customers to try our data, so far those who have tried it have said that it works very well,” Ramamurthy added.

“Again the issues raised quite correctly are that as more and more people come on you have to manage the data.”

“This is where the PNG government has come on board in running an additional fiber going out of the country and looking at running fiber between Madang and Moresby to improve the connectivity between the major centers.”

He pointed out that most of the plans were long way away, about 12 to 18 months- adding that in the meantime as a carrier they should make sure that with increased customers they increase their capacity out of the country.

“It is similar to driving out of your home in a suburb straight onto the freeway- you need to make sure that you manage the traffic so in that way you have to adjust as a carrier, be very vigilant and make sure you are managing customer expectation,” he said.