Rene brings with him over 17 years of international experience in the telecommunications industry from three different continents in emerging markets: Africa, Asia and Latin-America. Prior to joining Ooredoo Myanmar as Chief Executive Officer, Rene was the Managing Director at Vodacom Tanzania, the Managing Director of Airtel Kenya, Chief Executive Officer of the mobile operator Tigo in Tanzania, and Chief Operating Officer of Millicom Pakistan. After having worked in Africa, Asia & Latin-America for over fifteen years, Rene has acquired wide and diverse international experience in the telecommunications industry with strong focus on building sustainable operations coupled with the best international practices.
What kind of unique services does Ooredoo currently provide? Ooredoo is the first carrier in Myanmar that offers 4G technology, which is the best in the world. More than that, we promised to enrich people’s lives and we are doing that by providing the best technology that will offer limitless access to the world, in education, information, social connections. Even before our 4G technology, we were the first to provide state-of-the-art 3G technology. We have always been very focused on how we can provide the Myanmar people with the best services and products.
We are a brand that promises quality and affordability: We are bringing value to customers with more than just data, in quality packages like Facebook Plus, Internet Pack, Talky Pack etc., and special services like Ooredoo Favourite Number, Ooredoo App, Kyo Thone, and Site Phyo, etc.
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What exactly is 4G and its benefits?
4G means “Fourth generation”—in cellular communications. It means faster internet speeds. This means a whole new level of superb customer experience for mobile web access, video calls, high-definition mobile TV, next-generation gaming, cloud computing, and many more services. Only a handful of countries in the world have this technology, and we are very proud to be the first to bring it to Myanmar and make history.
What are your plans for network coverage expansion in the near future?
We have covered our network up to 86% of the country’s population as of May. We plan to expand the network coverage to reach up to 90 % of the population by end of December, 2016.
What are your strategies to compete against other telecom providers?
We are going to offer the best customer experience with the best network quality. We are going to target those who are thirsty for data, those who are eager to learn. Right now, we are already the best data provider in the country, and poised to be even better. Very soon, we are going to bring mobile solutions to Myanmar, which we believe are going to transform people’s lives here. While striving to be the best, we are going to ensure that we are responsible for our stakeholders, which means everyone from our shareholders, employees, our communities—everyone.
What are your current CSR projects?
We are dedicated to sustainably investing across Myanmar in support of the country’s social and economic development. During 2015, we invested a total of over 12.8 million USD in initiatives across Myanmar related to our corporate social responsibility commitments and goals. We have touched many different sectors—economic, educational, social, cultural, digital , sports. We have also invested in mobile health clinics, and disaster relief.
In the year 2016, we are going to continue investing in mobile health clinics and the Myanmar Football Federation, which we have been supporting since 2013. Football is the biggest passion for the Myanmar people, and we want to be a force that brings joy to the Myanmar people. We are also invest – ing for Clear Water Project, and are going to start with a first donation of over 30,000,000 Kyats which will be used to kick-off the project in Mae Taw, Thae Poat Kone, and Makyi Yoe Villag – es from Thazi Townships in Mandalay. The project can support 617 house – holds with 2,877 beneficiaries to give access to clean drinking water.
In addition to these and other con – tinuing investments, we will be letting everyone know very soon significant partnerships towards longer-term sus – tainable investment in the priority ar – eas of health and education in the next few months.
How many local employees are working at Ooredoo Myanmar?
We have over 900 national members. 60% of the total management are na – tionals and over 50% are women em – ployees. Our people are what keeps the company moving toward our goals. We take care of our employees in Ooredoo. HR is going to lead the efforts in devel – oping and engaging our people. Last year, we invested over USD one million in training and development. Every year, we do a survey to find out how we can make our employees happier to come to work, and we develop an ac – tion plan on the scores. We listen to the voices of our employees very carefully and seriously.
We’ve heard that Ooredoo is also implementing Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS). What is it, exactly?
We’re implementing Environmental and Social Management System to bring the best international practices for the benefit of the Myanmar com – munity along with the best products and services to the people of Myanmar.
This ESMS is designed to ensure that all of Oredoo’s operations meet rigorous international standards for environmental impact, health, safety and social conditions and is comprised of the actions and procedures that comply with national standards and applicable international covenants.
This initiative is further evidence of our commitment to always put the needs and concerns of all our stakeholders first before we do business. There are a lot that we want to achieve, and we are going to do it right.
You said “Ooredoo is trying to provide the best Customer Experience.” How will you acheive that?
We call our Contact Center employees “Champions” because we are so proud of them: They are out there every day, representing our company. They are 24/7 ready to help the customers in every areas that they need help with. More than that, we are going to try our best to ensure that you find Ooredoo in all the shops that you enter. From the moment you hear about Ooredoo, we want our customers’ best experience with us to be perfect.
Based on our contact center strategy, our approach to engagement activities with customers, and, key performance indicators that measure a customer’s experience with the Call Center, we won the Best Contact Centre’ Award at Customer Experience Asia Excellence Awards in 2015, and, won the Gold Prize in the Contact Center World Asia Pacific Finals 2016, and, ranked #1 for the Best Customer Service in Asia Pacific Region.[/paypal]
