WAKE UP, MTN CAMEROON By Tikum Mbah Azonga Without any doubt, the world as a global village has become an indisputable fact of life. This facility has been brought home to Cameroon by the advent of the mobile telephone era which today sees three mobile telecommunication giants towering over the country’s air space. These are the South African MTN Cameroon, 30 per cent of whose shares are owned by the Cameroonian Broadband Telecom. The other two firms are Orange (French) and the Cameroonian CAMTEL. Generally, all three companies are doing brisk business in Cameroon. MTN, for instance says this of itself (my translation from the French text): “By the 31st of August 2005, MTN Cameroon had over a million active subscribers. To this day, MTN places itself among the five most important firms in Cameroon in terms of turnover and accounts for over 54 per cent of the market shares – a factor which makes MTN the leader of the telephone sector in Cameroon”. Fair enough, but has MTN recently sat back and taken a good look at itself? Despite this impressive track record, it must be said that the company has also shot itself in the foot. It has, knowingly or unknowingly, provoked sighs of disappointment from its users; the reason being that for several months running now, MTN has fallen short of expectations. In fact, of the three mobile telephone providers operating in Cameroon at the moment, MTN has become the lame duck. MTN has become notorious for poor network and bad reception; lines going off, transfers taking long or even not going through at all, customer interrogation services such as message reception or credit amount check have all left a lot to be desired. Can we imagine what an impression such a state of affairs would create on a foreign tourist who has brought his dollars to spend in Cameroon, or the European businessman who is contemplating investing in the country? To salvage the situation its leaders must be honest with themselves, look themselves in the face and do something drastic and urgent. With the announcement of a fourth mobile telecommunication announced for Cameroon, MTN Cameroon really must put its act together, otherwise, the much vaunted slogan of “everywhere you go” trumpeted by the company may soon become “everywhere you go; yes, except with MTN”. FOOTNOTE This article was published on my other blog in February 2012. At the time SET MOBILE was not yet in business.