From Trendsetting To Fighting For Survival. The Story Of Comium Gambiai .

Comium Gambia burst into the Gambian telecommunication as the third entrant in a market 5hat was not saturated at the time. The incumbent national operator Gambia and African had total control of the market at the time and sim cards fetched a lucrative price in the country. The national penetrative rates had enough room for improvement hence making Comium's entry in the market attractive. Further to the possibility of making inroads in the market, Comium came in with a game changer at the time. It was the first to provide data services through GPRS a 2.5G technology which positioned the company churning subscribers from the 2 existing GSM Companies 

Comium went live with a loud bang and sustained its presence and visibility in the market thereby becoming a household name in Gambia. The presence of the company was felt in the local market especially in rural Gambia particularly in the Fonis and the Upper River Region of the country. 

Telecommunication is a very dynamic industry and advancement in technology rapidly changes the business landscape. 3G technology was introduced in the Gambia and that began the decline of Comium as it has lost its technological superiority and value proposition. Comium moved from a strong and robust company to an ailing company without clear visibility to join the 3G race. 

Equally a company of relevance to a company of obscurity and currently fourth and the least performing amongst all operators, Comium is frantically fighting for its economic survival. The telecommunication regulator PURA now need to make a decisive decision to demand Comium to invest in upgrading its 2.5G network or face cancellation of its license. Well Comium is currently embattled and chances of making a comeback are slim to none considering its financial health and legal woes from its long time vendor/supplier.

The regulator is duty bound to protect the ly of the Comium network in the event the network goes burst. Being a keen observer and player in the industry, I foresee Comium continue to milk its dilapidated investments to its inevitable death. Equally, they will want the Government to pounce on them by attempting to revoke their incense. This will favour Comium as they will want to go into arbitration with the Government of the Gambia thereby giving them respite from creditirs and a possible settlement with the Gambia. 

In a nutshell, Comium is delaying their inevitable death because their subscriber base has dwindled to a point that their total expenditure may most likely be the same as their revenues. Difficult times ahead for this embattled operator but it is oftentimes said that " a business has a right to live and a right to die. The choices they make in the course of doing business determines their viability". Comium made wrong choices and they are now facing the consequences of those poor business decisions.

I hope that the Regulator will step in and do the right thing for the country and subscribers.

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