Sunday, October 19, 2025
24.6 C
Lagos

Smile, Leading 4G LTE Innovation in Africa

Smile Telecoms Holdings Limited,which owns and operates 4G LTE mobile Broadband networks in the 800MHz band in Nigeria, and in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands in Tanzania and Uganda, announced yesterday that in all its operating markets customers would enjoy the benefits of two first-to-market services, namely SmileVoice andSmileUnlimited.

This follows Smile’s announcement in September 2015 of the raising of $365 million of debt and equity funding, the first tranche of which has been applied to significantly expand Smile’s existing 4G LTE mobile Broadband networks. Smile’s coverage is now comparable to the largest 3G network in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, with coverage in the DRC to be announced soon.

Irene Charnley, Smile Group’s Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“With the introduction of SmileVoice and SmileUnlimited, we are once again demonstrating our commitment to the advancement of the people of Africa. As the pioneers of SuperFast mobile Broadband on the continent, we understand the direct correlation of broadband penetration to the creation of wealth and the acceleration of development, and we are expending huge resources to make SuperFast internet access and SuperClear voice available across all our markets.”

SmileVoice is a world-first free mobile app that enables customers with any Android or Apple iPhone device to make SuperClear voice calls over Smile’s 4G LTE networks. Having the SmileVoice app on your mobile is like having a second SIM card in your phone. SmileUnlimited provides customers with unlimited access for 30 days over Smile’s SuperFast 4G LTE broadband network.

As an additional innovation and convenience to its customers Smile is the first mobile provider in Africa to offer Voice over 4G LTE to customers with VoLTE-capable handsets and the first mobile operator to launch a free SmileVoice App to enable customers who do not have access to VoLTE-capable handsets to access its SuperClear voice services.

“We made our first Voice over LTE calls in Nigeria during beta-testing in October 2015 and the feedback from our existing customers since our soft-launch early February has been extremely positive. Thousands of our customers now make national and international voice calls using their data bundles,” says Charnley about the Nigerian market.

SmileVoice will provide customers with the ability to use their data bundles to make SuperClear voice, video calls and send SMSs to any number locally and internationally.

Using SmileVoice, Smile-registered customers can make high quality voice calls to anywhere in the world with their data bundles, at the lowest local call rate per second in Nigeria. All SmileVoice calls are charged in MBs to an active data bundle and equated to a local per second call rate.

Elaborating on the SmileUnlimited offering, Ms Charnley explained that any unlimited offering is subject to a fair usage policy (FUP) which ensures that connectivity will be maintained throughout the 30-day period, albeit at declining speeds once the generous FUP is reached. It also provides for the speed to be increased again by the simple purchase of another data bundle.

Not only is Smile’s pricing more affordable than that of competitor narrowband offerings, but the superior experience of true Broadband also makes SmileUnlimited a fitting application of Smile’s value proposition of speed, quality, reliability and simplicity.

The roll-out of SmileVoice and SmileUnlimited in Nigeria will be followed by similar offerings in Tanzania and Uganda. In addition, Smile is set to launch its services in the DRC in 2016.

About Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd
Founded in 2007 and incorporated in Mauritius, Smile is a pan-African telecommunications group with operations in Nigeria (Smile Communications Nigeria), Tanzania (Smile Communications Tanzania), Uganda (Smile Communications Uganda) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Smile Communications DRC).

Smile has a single transformative objective of using the best and most innovative technologies to provide its customers with fast, reliable, high-quality, easy-to-use and affordable communication services.

In 2012, the company launched Africa’s first 4G LTE commercial network in the 800MHz band (ITU “band 20”) in the East African market, starting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and then Kampala, Uganda. This was followed by the launch of West Africa’s first 4G LTE commercial network, also in band 20, starting in Ibadan and then Lagos, Nigeria.

Smile’s vision and mission is to be the broadband provider of choice in all its markets and to enable its customers to benefit fully from the Internet world with data and voice services.

spot_img
spot_img
spot_img

Hot this week

13-year-old Rhema-Love Abraham Emerges Winner of 2025 Heirs Insurance Essay Championship

L:R- Funmi Olotu, National Coordinator, National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating...

Stanbic IBTC Bank, LOXEA BYD forge alliance for Electric Vehicle Financing

In a strategic move to advance Nigeria’s shift toward...

CBN, Bank of Angola Sign MoU on Technical Co-operation at IMF/World Bank Meeting

In an effort to enhance bilateral cooperation and technical...

NBS: Nigeria’s Inflation Falls to 18.02% in September, Lowest Level in Three Years

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell for the sixth consecutive...

NUPEMCO Marks 2025 CSW with Nationwide Pension Awareness Activities, Huawei-Supported National Essay competition

The Nigerian University Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO) celebrated the...

Topics

The Fate of Oil in 2017

The Journey in 2016 It was a roller coaster year...

Buhari Approves Payment of Outstanding Pension Liabilities under CPS

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has informed all its...

NDIC, EFCC Explore Areas of Partnership During Courtesy Visit

L-R: Executive Director (Corporate Services) NDIC, Hon. (Mrs.) Omolola...

NITDA Warns of Potential Cyber Attacks in 2018

The management of the National Information Technology Development Agency...

MTN Partners ETAP to Reward Nigerians for Good Driving

Africa’s leading technology company, has teamed up with ETAP,...

Dell Unveils New Future-Ready Servers to Boost SME Productivity

End-to-end IT solutions provider, Dell, has unveiled the newest additions to its highly successful Dell PowerEdge 13th generation servers , created to help small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) prepare for future growth. The new Dell PowerEdge servers include the PowerEdge R330 and R230 rack servers and the PowerEdge T330 and T130 tower servers.
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img