As it finalises its brand name change, telco is buying online real estate

Several reports have already confirmed that the name change will happen especially after the Etisalat Group, parent owners of the brand name told Reuters that it was pulling its brand out of Nigeria for the foreseeable future.

Giving the short time it was given by the Etisalat Group (about three weeks) to retire the Etisalat brand name in Nigeria, Technology Times reports that the company has acquired a 9Mobile domain hosted by local domain company, WhoGoHost.

The report also says the “9Mobile.com.ng” doman was acquired by one Paul Ehiagbonare, whose LinkedIn profile says he’s a member of the Self-Care & Online Interactions team at Etisalat nigeria.

ALSO READ: Telecom company has changed its name to 9Mobile

Strangely, Emerging Markets Telecommunications Limited (EMTS), one of the company listed as major shareholders in Etisalat Nigeria (reported to have pulled out of the company), is registrant organisation for the 9Mobile domain.

The other version of the domain, 9Mobile.ng is also registered to a John Iseghohi whose LinkedIn lists him as a product manager (and digital marketing professional) with links to Etisalat Nigeria.

Etisalat Nigeria has been involved in a corporate sage that has seen its board dissolved, its CEO and CFO replaced and a brand name change in the offing after it failed to service a $1.2 billion loan which it borrowed from a consortium of 13 Nigerian banks in 2014.