Airtel Nigeria launches 3.75G service

Airtel Nigeria, a subsidiary of Indian telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, has introduced third generation (3.75G) services across Nigeria in an effort to deepen its network capacity and quality in the oil-rich African country.

The launch will boost customer experience with high- speed mobile broadband and internet access, empowering telecom consumers to watch live TV, download music and make video calls using enabled devices, the company said.

Speaking at the launch, Airtel Nigeria Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Rajan Swaroop said the telecom firm has yet again raised the bar in its quest to delight Nigerians with more innovative and affordable telecom offerings.

"Today, we are the only operator with five different channels for data bundle activation and our 3.75G capacity is up to 42 megabytes per seconds," Swaroop added.

Airtel, which crossed 50 million customer mark in Africa last November, announced the investment of USD 600 million in Nigeria's mobile market alone in 2010 following its take-over of the country's holdings of Kuwaiti-based Zain after closing a USD 10.7 billion deal.

The company has also invested in rural telephony and introduced a corporate social responsibility programmes that include setting up of schools that offer free quality education to underprivileged children in rural communities.

Recently, it partnered First Bank, one of Nigeria's financial institutions to promote mobile financial transactions in form of seamless mobile money services.