January 23, 2019
By Regina Pratt
SIERRATEL new rebranded building
The Sierra Leone Telecommunication Company (SIERRATEL) is currently rebranding and transforming it operations to be the choice in the provision of ICT services in the country.
In line with their plan, the company yesterday commissioned its rebranded building that provided facelift to its operations, thus heralding the dawn of a new SIERRATEL.
Managing Director of the company, Ing. Senesie Kallon, told the gathering during the launch that they needed serious capital injection of about forty-four billion Leones (Le 44bn), with a forecast delivery of eighty-nine billion Leones return of revenue.
He stated that much has not been achieved as previous governments failed to provide the needed assistance to the institution; hence it was on record of delivering poor service to the public.
He apologized to customers for the hitches they were enduring on their voice data and internet services of recent times; assuring that such ugly development would soon be a thing of the past.
“We have embarked on a journey of transformation as we see diversified unparalleled strides of our institution’s expansion countrywide. Much has not been achieved, but with the limited resources, we have witnessed a lot of good things happening now. The vision is that SIERRATEL will be made a one stop shop for the provision of convergence communication services. We have embarked on a mission of building a better life which will be available and affordable in Sierra Leone,” he assured.
He called on all staff to uphold and maintain the core values of the company, including integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, innovation and excellence.
“We therefore provide a strategy for these core value mission which is service better before cheaper and revenue drive before cost strategy. Our strategy is to go nationwide, improve on our performance and service delivery,” he said
He noted that at the end of 2019, the institution would improve its customer base to 8,100, and that they would expand their broadband to homes and offices on the move through the high speed 4Glite.
Chairman, National Commission for Privatization (NCP), Umaru Napoleon Koroma, said the country was witnessing signs of development in one of “our fastest growing telecommunication institutions as they have made some significant progress to make it a highly innovative mobile telecommunication company.”
He said the company has established landline services to some parts of Freetown, including Leicester Square, Aberdeen, Wellington and Brookfield’s, embarked on cost saving measures, and carried out comprehensive review of the company’s processes procedures.
“We have witnessed a bold testament of the management strides. It is therefore incumbent on all of us, the management, the regulators, policy makers and the general public to make this happen as we awaken this sleeping giant,” he urged.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Information and Communications, Hon. Mathew Nyuma, said they believe in the approach to development – to help SIERRATEL compete with the other telecommunication companies.
“We are not stagnant as it is my hope that we would meet that expected standard. We are looking forward to the amendment in terms of legislations to make SIERRATEL move forward and be standard as we believe in strong laws,” he said.
In his keynote address, Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rado Swarray, noted that government was very much aware that SIERRATEL is a critical player in mapping out the way forward in accessing communication services in the country.
He said the development in the company would certify the desire by government- be it corporate entities, small and medium enterprises, NGO’s and private individuals –to conduct their business in a way that the internet will increase.
He disclosed that his ministry was revisiting the telecommunication laws and other existing laws, especially for cyber security, computer literacy misuse and personal protection.
The Minister disclosed that through the Ministry of Information and Communication, government will introduce the much needed e-government programs, whereby many government activities would be conducted on line.