MTS First Wireless has been in the news lately, all pointing to one direction: that the company is out for real competition and fully prepared to take its share of the market. Obviously this is a good response in a market described as the third fastest growing in the world with pent up demand still pointing to the sky.

Preparatory to doing this, MTS had put a team of young men and women in place, young souls who speak the language of modern technology, led by Mr. Dem Elesho. But quite painfully Elesho had to leave the company recently, forced out by the restraint clause in a contract he had signed with mobile phone company, MTN, not to accept any other telecom job until June 25, 2006. He was the Chief Technical Officer of the company until he left last year.

Rationalising his departure, Corporate Services Executive, Sam Apiafi said: "Having weighed all his options, Dem Elesho came to the decision that respecting the restraint of trade issued by MTNN would serve as most expedient and least damaging to MTS First Wireless particularly with the renewed confidence the brand now enjoys."

This confidence was demonstrated recently when the young management addressed the media in Lagos to unfold their expansion plans. The Elesho imprint was very strong on the group which enunciated their plans and the conclusion of most journalists was that at last, MTS has a management that will take it into competition.

Is such conclusion farfetched? Perhaps the deliverables will provide the answer. Just last week the operator knocked down the cost of US call rate from about N39 to N15, the first of such remarkable drop in the industry history, giving people the opportunity to spend as much time as possible doing international call.

However rollout activities are also very noticeable. First the operations in Lagos were strengthened for stronger and wider reception and for the company to be in contention in the lucrative Lagos market. But where the real action has been are in the zones outside of Lagos, the latest being Ibadan. In a statement last week, MTS said that the commissioning of services in Ibadan, the third after Lagos, indicates the company's preparedness for an aggressive rollout to cover 24 cities with rollout target of 350, 000 fixed and mobile telephony subscribers across the country.

Elated by the company's progress in following its roadmap, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Damoye Oyesiku, declared: "We are excited about extending our network to Ibadan, but we are more excited that our Ibadan subscribers will share in our vision to be the local telecoms champion providing our customers with simple, dependable and affordable communication services."

But Abeokuta was first on the list of MTS after Lagos, an indication that the company was building a vision around underserved markets to make a strong outing in the industry. Launched to coincide with the coronation ceremonies of the Alake of Egba Land, Oba Michael Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, the company said in a statement that the rollout represented a significant opportunity for MTS stakeholders, especially the potential subscribers in Abeokuta who will begin to enjoy the kind of affordable wireless telephony and Internet services currently being enjoyed by MTS subscribers in Lagos.

The statement also noted that Lagos subscribers could travel to Abeokuta roaming their lines, while those entering Lagos from Abeokuta can do the same, as the two networks will offer the same quality of voices, SMS and Internet services.

The Abeokuta operations made MTS the first among the private telecom operators to launch services in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The possibility arising from the MTS expansion is that it is now possible to do mobility in these areas of operations. And with such call coming at a cost of N15 to the United States and N17 to the United Kingdom, the attraction remains strong indeed.

After setting an industry record in 1992 of being the first to offer mobile services in the country, the story of MTS didn't use to be so glowing after all. NITEL with which it had a relationship unplugged it from its network over some controversial debt; a development that was more political than business, then the journey down the valley began and MTS wasn't to see the sun again until August 2004 when it launched services on its CDMA 2000 1x platform. Then arose some management squabbles that nearly ruined the company and buried the potentials it held for the industry.

At last it seems MTS has found its rhythm and, with recent expansion, making a very strong statement that it will be one of the operators that will rule the country's telecom industry that has become a major attraction to operators and equipment vendors around the world.

In signing on two advert agencies recently, 141 Worldwide Limited and Yellow Dog Limited, new Chief Marketing Officer, Ms Uche Ofodile stated that "we need advertising agencies who will understand where we are coming from, and where we are going."

MTS' history perhaps seems to be a major propelling force driving its present performance, and having endured a fall so many times, the young management seems to have risen from the ashes to wax a new song of hope for the company.