Telecel, the country’s second largest operator, recently appointed Francis Mawindi as chief executive officer. In this question-and-answer session, Mawindi (FM) speaks to NewsDay’s sister paper The Standard’s Chief Business Reporter Ndamu Sandu (ND) about his vision for the company and the state of the industry. Below are excerpts.
Report by Ndamu Sandu ND: Where do you see Telecel in the short-to-medium term? FM: My goal is to see Telecel becoming the most innovative telecommunications company in Zimbabwe that will continue with the pioneering role in ensuring the affordability and access to mobile telecommunication for all Zimbabweans. Seeing the company becoming the most profitable and customer-centric telecommunications service provider of choice in Zimbabwe, will be a key priority. We hope to continue pushing with our strong and accelerated growth and reduce the gap with the current market leader. We would like to be synonymous with quality service delivery in all aspects of our business operations.
ND: Your subscriber base is a third of your competitor who enjoys economies of scale. What is your selling point? FM: We strongly premise our strategy on value delivery. One of our key brand values is to provide the best value for money. In all the things we do, we have tried to create this value through cost efficiency and optimisation and passing most of this back to our subscribers through competitively priced products and services. In addition customer experience is key and central to this strategy and as such we will continue to differentiate ourselves as a customer centric, high quality service provider with the acquisition of subscribers and market share growth being the end result of that effort.
ND: You have worked for large mobile operators internationally and what is your assessment of local operators? FM: I see a lot of potential in the local telecommunications environment, especially within the mobile space itself. What is interesting to note is that as a country, Zimbabwe has already leapfrogged legacy infrastructure, as operators compete for customers and market share using advanced and latest technologies. What is important though is for operators to deliver on customer expectations in terms of high quality networks and superb customer service. Operators are in business because of the existence of customers who are willing and able to buy their products and services and, as such, delivery and anticipation of customer satisfaction is of paramount importance for success. It is therefore important for operators to understand that customers come first. ND: What experiences are you bringing back to Zimbabwe from your stint abroad? FM: As you may already know, there are two dimensions to Telecel Zimbabwe. It is very much a local company, but part of a large international telecommunications group.
It provides affordable telecommunications services to Zimbabweans in a local environment making use of the global expertise that there is within the international group to which it belongs.
As a Zimbabwean who gained his first experience in telecommunications industry with the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation and has gone on to gain significant international experience with major telecommunications companies abroad, I hope that I will be able to bring to Telecel that combined local and global knowledge and experience.
There has been a strong strategic and developmental element to the work that I have been doing in the United States of America.
At France Telecom Orange, where I worked prior to joining Telecel, I was head of business operations, responsible for the company’s global business operations in both North America and Latin America.
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I led development efforts and the co-ordination and management of the company’s business and strategic planning process for the America region.
Prior to that I was with Verizon, a major United States telecommunications giant, where I supported the regional business development of operations in North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa. Before I joined Verizon, I was with Sprint, the third largest mobile operator in the United States, where I was part of the regional baseline strategic planning team for the development and implementation of a nationwide project for the provision of mobile broadband telecommunications services.
All of this experience, I believe, will be quite useful and valuable for Telecel Zimbabwe, particularly as Telecel is in a strong developmental and growth stage, where we are expanding our network coverage and capacity, as well as the range of products we offer.
ND: What is your model for infrastructure sharing? FM: We are agreeable to the principle of infrastructure sharing on a reciprocal basis where the regulator can provide the framework and individual operators negotiate directly on a case-by-case basis.
ND: What is your relationship with other operators in terms of interconnection charges, are you up to date in terms of payment? FM: We do owe each other money and it is our hope that every party discharges their obligations, but we have taken a position not to disconnect with any other operators and avoid customer inconvenience as per our core corporate values. As I have stated in the past, customers come first.
ND: Who is Francis Mawindi?
FM: I am quite a sociable person with a passion for sport, including basketball, soccer, American football and swimming. I also like music and live entertainment! Some may want to call me an extrovert since I like to engage and discuss issues a lot and always try to establish logic in everything around me. I enjoy being around my family from where I derive my strength and will to succeed. I am someone who likes winning, getting up when I fall and always believing in the notion that if you have the enthusiasm, passion and motivation, and conviction to win, you will always succeed. ND: If you were not at Telecel, where would you have been? FM: I cannot think of any other better place to be than Telecel itself at this time. I joined a company that is in an accelerated growth mode with lots of potential, one that is sensitive and responsive to customer needs including ensuring the affordability of mobile communication products and services and indeed one that has undoubtedly a bright future.
ND: Do you believe the Universal Services Fund is serving its purpose and how would it be improved for the betterment of both operators and subscribers? FM: We believe it is a noble idea. Currently, the regulator has indicated that about 11 sites have been finalised in terms of provision of passive infrastructure ready for operators to connect and we understand another 43 sites are targeted for next year.
These efforts are complementing our own individual roll-out efforts and can only result in a shorter network deployment turn-around time.
We do need, however, to speed up the USF sites so that there is visible and demonstrable progress to all people.
