In 2018, I briefly chronicled how Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) tumbled from being the gigantic telecommunications player it was to a struggler in the field.

Prior to the dawn of the mobile phone technology in the country in the mid-1990s, MTL, then as part of Malawi Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (MPTC) or simply ‘Post Office’, meant communication. No one would communicate to someone in a distant place without ‘Post Office’, whether using coin-operated pay phones or indeed letters.

To get connected to a landline, people waited for years on end to have a landline fitted in their homes or offices. Many gave up. My conclusion then was that MTL was not operating like a business providing a service. It worked like it was doing customers a favour.

Boom, came Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) with mobile phone technology. It was a joint venture between MTL and Telecom Malaysia.

TNM mostly operated on post-paid billing until Celtel Malawi, now trading as Airtel Malawi plc, joined the fray and became an instant hit with the pre-paid or pay-as-you-go billing. TNM later rolled out the pre-paid billing platform as well.

Pre-paid was the way to go in a country where utility bill default was the order of the day and choked many service providers, including MTL, Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi and the water boards.

It did not take long before the mobile phone network operators overtook MTL and reduced the former giant to a sideshow at its own trade.

MTL’s fall from its glorious and monopolistic years reminded me of the fate that befell Nokia, a Finnish company established in 1871, which lost its dominance of the mobile industry.

Nokia was known worldwide for its reputation for producing reliable, standard mobile phones that were Internet-enabled and programmed with an array of multimedia features. But eventually, competition in the mobile phone sector rose in 2007 when Apple introduced the iPhone and Nokia soon found its market share declining. Samsung and others also joined the fray.

During a press conference to announce Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s smartphone business in 2014, Nokia chief executive officer (CEO) Stephen Elop stated: “We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost.”

Nokia missed out on learning as well as changing and, therefore, lost the opportunity to consolidate its dominance to earn big money.

This week, I was delighted to read a story about the “sleeping giant” that is MTL in the Business News Section of The Nation under the headline ‘MTL on expansion drive, introduces 4G services’.

The story quoted MTL chief commercial officer Gladson Kuyeri as having said that the introduction of the fourth generation broadband cellular technology (4G) services to be piloted in Blantyre and Lilongwe. The roll out of the 4G services will broaden MTL’s business and revenues in a world where data is the in-thing as traditional voice calls are on the death bed.

Kuyeri said with the 4G service, customers will be able to buy data bundles valid for a specific period based on speed and, above all, the service will be accessed through MTL sim cards either using a router or a smartphone.

Revered former South African president Nelson Mandela talked about perseverance, the spirit of never giving up. He is quoted as having said: “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

The world is dynamic such that the advantage you have today will be replaced by the emerging trends of tomorrow. In other words, you do not really have to do anything wrong because as long as your rivals catch the wave and do things right, you will surely lose out and be kicked out of business.

From the look of things, MTL appears to have drawn lessons from what caused its downfall and is currently on the resurrection path. Well done chief executive officer Harry Gombachika, PhD, Gladson and your entire team.

We at Business Unpacked can only wish the company the best as its expansion will widen consumers’ choices and hopefully address the#DataMustFall issue.

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