Etisalat Nigeria, a subsidiary of UAE based telecommunications services provider, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) has attained a subscriber base of 15 million – at the start of the first quarter of 2013 –  after 4 years of operation in the Nigerian market.

Confirming this development, CEO Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans said; “At the beginning of 2012, we were moving towards 11 million subscribers. Now, 12 months later, we have added four million active subscribers to our base; this is a phenomenal achievement.”

“We have shown an innate ability to turn challenges into opportunities. With this mindset and our focus on quality, innovation and the customer, we have been able to listen, attract, reward, retain and expand our customer base over the last 12 months. Our success now and in the future will continue to rely on executing on this strategy,” he said.

Evans explained that with 15 million subscribers on its network, the firm had succeeded in grabbing over 15 percent market share in the Nigerian telecoms sector in just 4 years of operation.

As at October 2012, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s subscriber data revealed that the Nigerian telecommunication has 109 million active mobile connections, with the GSM operators having 105.9 million subscribers, while the Code Division Multiple Access operators share 3.13 million and the fixed wireless operators had 454, 644 users.

To consolidate on its success, Etisalat Nigeria announced plans to improve network and service quality across the country. The company recently signed a fresh agreement with its technical partner, Alcatel-Lucent for the provision of equipment and services for the expansion of its network in various states.