Case: African Communication Group
Case: African Communication Group
This case presented describes the business model developed by African Communication Group (ACG) in, Tanzania, led by Monique Maddy (CEO) and Come Lague(COO) in the last mid-1990s. ACG tried to install a pay-phone system, well-priced card-operated phone service, in Dar es Salaam, based on the wireless radio technology, the most innovative concept among other competitors. They saw the most promising opportunity, a pay-phone network business, in the last major geographic market, Africa. Hereby, I would access ACG’s business model with the “Who”, “What”, and “How” tool, and see whether these choices are mutually reinforcing.
Assessment of ACG’s Business Model
Who (the target customers)
1) ACG geographically targeted the Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Sallam, where about 71% of pay-phone users lived. They also had a plan to extend the network toward other Tanzanian cities by the end of 1998.
2) ACG focused on the business people in the city as their main consumer, because about 70% of telecommunication revenue was received from business subscribers. ACG also anticipated about 10,000 subscribers in case they launched paging and voice mailbox service.
What (the product and service)
1) ACG offered a unique pay-phone system, with which customer would buy a pre-programmed card to enable them to activate their local, long-distance and international destinations calls.
2) ACG also added the paging and voice mailbox service, because they believed that these additional service could double pay-phone usages.
How (the way of doing business)
Marketing and Sales
1) ACG Identified the most suitable 200 sites for locating its pay phones, and planned to maintain its quality and safety.
2) ACG planned a large multi-media campaign for the pay-phone launch. All promotional materials were developed in the US by professional marketing group.
3) ACG targeted price over the base rate of TTCL to meet the most competitive and also
This case presented describes the business model developed by African Communication Group (ACG) in, Tanzania, led by Monique Maddy (CEO) and Come Lague(COO) in the last mid-1990s. ACG tried to install a pay-phone system, well-priced card-operated phone service, in Dar es Salaam, based on the wireless radio technology, the most innovative concept among other competitors. They saw the most promising opportunity, a pay-phone network business, in the last major geographic market, Africa. Hereby, I would access ACG’s business model with the “Who”, “What”, and “How” tool, and see whether these choices are mutually reinforcing.
Assessment of ACG’s Business Model
Who (the target customers)
1) ACG geographically targeted the Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Sallam, where about 71% of pay-phone users lived. They also had a plan to extend the network toward other Tanzanian cities by the end of 1998.
2) ACG focused on the business people in the city as their main consumer, because about 70% of telecommunication revenue was received from business subscribers. ACG also anticipated about 10,000 subscribers in case they launched paging and voice mailbox service.
What (the product and service)
1) ACG offered a unique pay-phone system, with which customer would buy a pre-programmed card to enable them to activate their local, long-distance and international destinations calls.
2) ACG also added the paging and voice mailbox service, because they believed that these additional service could double pay-phone usages.
How (the way of doing business)
Marketing and Sales
1) ACG Identified the most suitable 200 sites for locating its pay phones, and planned to maintain its quality and safety.
2) ACG planned a large multi-media campaign for the pay-phone launch. All promotional materials were developed in the US by professional marketing group.
3) ACG targeted price over the base rate of TTCL to meet the most competitive and also