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Last Thursday was the launch of WOM, the new mobile phone operator, which belongs to the Novator Partners group. In dialogue with Vanguardia, Chris Bannister, CEO of WOM in Colombia, detailed the plans they have for Santander.
The businessman affirmed that a very ambitious business plan was carried out with which it is expected to invest a billion dollars in the country, of which 100 million dollars have already been invested. “It makes us the second private company with the highest foreign investment in the country.”
With these resources, it is planned to build the largest network in the country with 8 thousand antennas over the course of four years. In this way, WOM expects to achieve 25% of the national market. “We are going to make it. The other three operators have a network and service that is not good and their prices are very high, ”says Bannister.
With this investment, by the end of this year 121 towers and connection points in the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga would be ready. “Between 800 and 900 antennas are going to be in Santander”, promised Bannister.
The leader of the company recognizes that there are many populations that lack this service, so he emphasizes that its purpose is “to connect the disconnected.”
At the national level, it is expected to reach 675 localities located in rural areas for the first time. It is expected that by the end of this year 300 will be connected.
It is expected that for the first four months of 2021, when some 500 municipalities are already connected, the service will begin to be provided. “We launched the brand to present it to the country. We are currently focused on having a fairly robust and high-quality network so that the commercial offer is made in the first four months of next year. We have a commitment to Colombia, even in times of pandemic, we are bringing people together ”.
job
The company expects to hire 2,500 people directly and some 5,000 indirect jobs. To date, there are 1,200 workers who are building the network. In addition, three ‘data centers’ have been built, two in Bogotá and one in Medellín.
To date, 57 people in Bucaramanga work with this company.
Bannister believes that beyond building an infrastructure, human talent is key to ensuring success. “Colombia is very underestimated at times. I am surprised by the capabilities that Colombians have. It does not matter if the Bucaramanga employees are from the technical side or from the commercial area. Its quality and workmanship is just as good as Sweden’s mobile phone experts. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it, I’m pleasantly surprised. You have to show the world how talented the country is ”.
With the months that he has been working in the country, Bannister affirms that he trusts the people he has hired to carry the project forward. “At the end of the day, anyone can build stations, it’s a matter of time and money. The differential factor is the culture of WOM and the commitment that it manages to implant in each collaborator. Every person who belongs to the organization has a genuine desire to make the change. 95% of the employees in Chile are proud to work in the company, that is a guarantee for each day to improve and offer the best service ”.
In the country, WOM would be hiring between 25 and 30 people each week. This will continue, until it reaches its goal of 2,500 workers. “We do very strong training so that the DNA of the company is impregnated. Our four values are courage, commitment, passion and transparency. A large part of my time is dedicated to helping people understand expectations and internalize them, because that is the key. Those values have to be at the heart and in the decisions that the company makes ”.
Competition
Chris Bannister saw a great opportunity in Colombia to enter to compete, realizing that it is one of the countries with the highest rates in South America. “50 million people is a fairly large potential market and the three biggest players are very comfortable. Colombians are not happy with their operator, they deserve much more than what they are offering at this time.
This competition would force the other operators to improve their infrastructure and their prices, as happened in Chile, a country that currently has the lowest average price per gig in Latin America.
The CEO of WOM is especially critical of Claro’s dominance. “This actor has an influence on the telecommunications ecosystem. This has created a backlog in the sector, which is reflected in the high prices and the low quality of services. Claro is going to influence the institutions so that WOM has problems when it enters into operation ”.
In fact, legal claims have already been registered for different factors such as the Avantel purchase and the spectrum auction, which forced WOM to pay $ 42 billion.
“There are more than 10 processes that have taken place. The ‘dark side’ (referring to Claro, Movistar and Tigo) have created obstacles, but I am calm, all our actions have been done in accordance with the law. We have collaborated with all the authorities to prove it. The other operators have exerted influence to delay, “said Bannister.
Despite the legal problems, WOM is moving forward with its operational area focused on building the network, recruiting workers and having a commercial offer. “Legal issues in Colombia are long and extensive. I have a legal team that provides information to different institutions ”.
Another issue to be resolved is Avantel’s millionaire debt with its suppliers, including Claro, Movistar and Tigo. “To get it out of that bankruptcy law, a process must be started with the Superintendency. 82% of creditors approved of the repayment plan, but surprisingly 18% who did not approve of the plan were from the ‘dark side’. However, everyone is going to pay their debt, including them. ”
The company
The history of WOM goes back to 2005 in Poland, when Novator was granted the license to be the fourth operator in this country, whose market was dominated by Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile.
“Being a small independent company, the industry thought that we would not have a chance to be successful or have a significant market share because we were going to compete with three giants,” Bannister recalled.
The CEO of WOM assured that 1.1 billion euros were invested in Poland, to connect more than 2,500 people through the Play brand. “We exceeded expectations and beat the other three operators. Today we are number one, with 28% of the market ”.
After working in telecommunications in Africa, the new bet was Latin America. Five years ago WOM was launched in Chile. “There the prices were very high and the services were not good. There was a very large market concentration in Claro, Movistar and Entel, which belongs to the richest family in Chile, ”says Bannister.
In Chile, 800 million dollars were invested, more than 2,000 people were hired and more than 200 stores were built. After five years of operation, WOM accounts for 23% of the Chilean market, surpassing Claro.
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