It was indeed a new dawn in telecommunications service as Glo, the ambitious pan-Nigerian GSM operator formally launched its world-class telecoms services for the people of Benin Republic. The event was held in Cotonou, the commercial nerve centre of Benin Republic.
As early as 12.00pm Thursday, June 5, 2008, Marina Hotel Cotonou, venue of the launch had already become a beehive of activities with guests from far and near, journalists from within and outside Benin Republic trooping in for the historic event. Musicians were seen setting the stage and rehearsing for live performances billed for the night.

The event which was televised live on the Beniniose national television kicked off with an address by the chairman of Globacom Nigeria, Dr. Mike Adenuga, who was physically present at the epoch-making launch.

Adenuga started by expressing happiness that finally, Glo, a West African brand from the world's most populous black nation has come to Benin Republic and expressed hope that the black continent would benefit from the advances in technology. He pledged his company's commitment to use this advancement to spur Africa's economic growth and socio-political success.

Letting his guests into what inspired the emergence of Glo, Adenuga said from the onset, Glo was conceived to be a world-class network focused on the convergence of voice, data and

multimedia technologies. “We set out from the outset to build a network that is not only as good as our competitors but the best. We are determined to be world-class, pure and simple.”He noted that the vision of the telco was to build the biggest and best network in Africa, expressing happiness that the company has not deviated from this vision even when it was given no chance at inception. “Many thought it was a mere commercial boast. Some felt because we are African, we cannot achieve it because all the successful networks have their origin outside the continent.”

Today, according to the Globacom chairman, the skeptics have started changing their minds having seen Glo enjoy a phenomenal growth in both network coverage and subscriber base.
“They have seen us generate over 18million subscribers in the first five years. They have seen us break all known performance indices. They have seen us overtake networks that had a three-year head start over us in all areas- subscriber base, network quality, technology, innovation, customer service and responsiveness.

“They have seen us in the sky with our satellite stations taking services to every country in the world. We are currently laying submarine cables that will link the whole of West and North Africa to Europe and the rest of the world. The cable will soon land in Cotonou”, he said.
Adenuga stated that the Glo network has installed capacity for five million subscribers in Benin Republic and that at the moment; it has more towers, more switching stations than any other network in the country adding that this was achieved within a short time of obtaining the license.

After the chairman's speech, it was music all through. From elegant female singer, Lira to King Sunny Ade, Stella Damasus, Sunny Okposo and others, guests at the launch never had a dull moment as they kept vigil all night to welcome Glo to Benin Republic.
Nigeria's minister of State for communications, Ibrahim Nakande, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engineer Ernest Ndukwe and some prominent Nigerians from the business and political communities were present at the event.

Representative of the Beninoise president expressed the country's happiness with the latest development and pledged the government's readiness to provide the enabling environment for Glo to do business in the country.