Ola expects to add 1 million users in 2005

Colombian mobile operator Colombia Móvil (Ola) aims to add 1 million clients in 2005, building on its current client base of 1.16 million, local newspaper El Heraldo quoted Colombia Móvil president León Darío Osorio as saying. "We are optimistic about the future because of the last few months' financial and operational indices. The most important challenge is still customer service and we plan important investments in this area," he said in the report. To achieve this objective, the company will launch 35 customer service centers between year-end and 2005, to be located in the most important cities. Of the new centers, 12 are already operating in the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena and Bucaramanga. The centers will manage complaints in a faster and more efficient way. In July, 2% of Ola users were reporting problems, down from 9% in January. By the end of the year, the company expects to solve 90% of cases in less than 24 hours. Ola is also working to improve service quality. Network congestion is now 1%, well within the 2% limit set by the Colombian communication ministry. Ola has also reduced the incidence of failed calls to 1.5%, while the maximum allowed in its concession contract is 3%. Regarding coverage, Ola also has higher levels than requested by the Colombian government and is studying proposals from several providers to expand its network capacity.