Africa-Press – Cape verde. The merger of the companies of the CVTelecom Group (CVT) and the consequent convergence of the company’s services will bring, in the next two to three months, a price reduction of the company’s various services. The guarantee is from João Domingos, PCA of the CVTelecom Group and was given yesterday, in Praia, during the launch of what is the company’s first commercial brand “Alô”, in Creole. It symbolizes the “face of Cape Verde”.
CVT started, since yesterday, to have a unified trademark for the entire company. “Alou” follows the merger of the three CVT companies (Zap, CVmultimédia and CVMóvel) and will represent the company in the retail, commercial and business segment.
“We are going to work with two commercial brands: a brand for everything that is commercial, business and retail, which is the Alou brand and another brand for wholesalers, especially for the sale of international and national capacity, which is Cabo Verde World Connect. This brand is already operating and will have its own launch campaign in the next few days”, explained CVT CEO, João Domingos.
Price cuts on the way
This is associated with the convergence of all services, with the company now offering Net+Telefone, TV+Telefone packages, or the so-called three-in-one Net+ TV+Telefone. Each package will have a single invoice, bringing, according to this person, advantages for customers.
“The services have not changed, the costs will change. A customer who previously had, for example, three contracts with us, now has a single contract. And a customer who previously could not have a complete package of our service, now has a complete package and manages his credit, which is very different, for a family, to work under these conditions”.
The gains with the costs of restructuring the structure, he said, will be passed on to the customer.
“Working with three companies has a lot of inefficiency costs that are usually passed on to consumers. We worked with three networks and started working with one network. And in the next two, three months, consumers will begin to feel the effect of this, through the reduction of prices of the various services that we provide to the market”, he guaranteed.
cheapest internet
This reduction extends to internet costs, João Domingos perspective, in what is one of the main demands of customers. However, he recalls that this has costs, related, in part, to the so-called economy of scale, given the specificities of an archipelagic and small market.
“The investments we make here for 500,000 people are the same investments that Senegal makes with many more people. Therefore, this (internet cost reduction) will take its own course and we are working on it (…) we will certainly have cheaper services in the future.
layoffs out of the question
With the merger and convergence, João Domingos ruled out any redundancy scenario, and even admits hiring new staff.
“Our workers were allocated to the business area and, therefore, the business dynamics that we have been witnessing, currently, do not lead us to dismiss people, quite the contrary, it tells us that we need more people to be able to give market response.
In terms of the restructuring of the company CVT, when asked if this merger does not mean a kind of return to the past, taking into account that the company was once a group, which was divided into companies, he says no and recalls that, now, there are competition, whereas in the past they had a monopoly, so the scenario is different.
“Right now we are in a competitive situation. Let’s say that what we found is that, from that monopoly situation to market opening, to competition and restructuring, now, we’ve learned a lot. And it is this learning that we want to turn into benefits for our customers”.
Reconfiguration dependent on shareholders
Questioned by the press about the possible reconfiguration of the company’s management and the Board of Directors, he guaranteed that, for the time being, they will continue with a single Board of Directors.
“It is possible that in the near future, but that will depend on the shareholders (not the management) that there is a management reconfiguration”, he admitted, advancing that, eventually, it could be “a Board of Directors and an executive committee”. This, taking into account that, currently, the Board of Directors coincides with the Executive Committee.
Technology is a gift – Olavo Correia
The launch of CVT’s first commercial brand was attended by various figures from Cape Verdean society, including partners, customers and Group businessmen, including Olavo Correia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
Olavo Correia took the opportunity to congratulate the CVT group towards innovation and transformation and praise the importance of innovation to develop Cape Verde, emphasizing that technologies are almost a “gift” for small island states like the archipelago.
“A gift to connect with ourselves and connect with the world. Cape Verde can only be a great Nation if it is connected to the world. Cape Verde focused on itself is condemned to perpetual poverty”.
That is why he highlighted the importance of connecting the diaspora, which, he said, represents 60% of bank deposits in the country.
In this context, he highlighted the importance of the digital age, in the context of quality services “for all”, to guarantee “equal opportunities”, both in terms of public governance and in terms of the digital economy.
Alô – the face of Cape Verde
“Alô”, which basically represents the simplest way to communicate when you answer the phone or say hello to someone, translates into the face of Cape Verde and the diaspora, explained José Luís Barros, Marketing director at Cabo Verde Telecom.
“We had a big challenge which was the convergence of the CVT companies. We had three companies and we had to merge. With the merger, we necessarily had to have a new brand. And we wanted this brand to be Cape Verdean, hence the name Alô (Alou in Creole), simple, direct and short. A word that we use on a daily basis, for various situations”, he clarified to the press.
Associated with Alô (Alou) new, warm colors appear, such as green and red, the latter of which was already present in some form in the Group’s companies previously.
The blue, so characteristic of the company, will continue especially in the brand aimed at the business segment.
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