By Foday Moriba Conteh
In a bid to make Africell subscribers with or without smart phones get access to credible and factual news both local and international within their comfort zones in the country, Africell-Sierra Leone in partnership with Premier Media Group Limited on Thursday 8th July, 2021 launched the Premier SMS news update during an auspicious event held at Africell American Corner on Bathurst Street in Freetown.
In his statement, the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Africell-Sierra Leone, Joe Abass Bangura, commended Premier Media Group Limited for standing the test of time as one of the oldest media consultancies in the country.
He noted that the launch of the Premier SMS news update will give Africell subscribers the opportunity to access credible and factual news both local and international within their comfort zones through their mobile phones.
He disclosed that news dissemination has come a long way from the days when there were a dozen of newspapers, a single television station and short medium wave radio stations, adding that with the commencement of FM Radio broadcast in the early 90s such brought higher quality sound broadcasting given the relative affordability of equipment used of which he said even local communities in the country can now boast of having their own radio stations furthering that there has also been a similar proliferation and growth in the number of newspapers and TV stations in the country.
He added that the advent of mobile phones brought in even greater dynamics with majority of households now owning their own mobile phones which, he said, has made news accessibility even faster and on the spot and that people no longer need to wait to read the newspapers or watch the television or listen to the radio to access news furthering that rather news can now be delivered to them through their cell phones via the Premier SMS news update.
He said the service will give Africell subscribers the opportunity to get want they want, which includes the latest and the important breaking news ,direct to their cell phones as and when they happen, adding that Africell customers can subscribe for the service by sending an SMS START to the short code 2122 at a cost of Le300 per day.
He pointed out that Africell Subscribers with or without smart phones, can access the service and that the service is on auto renewal once to subscribe but said subscribers also have the opportunity to unsubscribe from the service by sending STOP to 2122 at any time they wish.
On his part, Managing Director of Premier Media Group Limited, Dr. Julius Spencer, revealed that Premier Media Group Limited was established in 2001 and that they are one of the earliest media consultancies in the country, adding that Premier News was established in 2007 and since then they have been giving credible and factual news to the populace.
He assured all that with this partnership with Africell, subscribers will also have the opportunity to have credible and factual news in all facets of life especially on things that are very relevant for public consumption.
Dr. Julius Spencer ended by calling on all to subscribe to the Premier news update service in order to get credible and factual news.
Climaxing the event was the official launch of the Premier news update by the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Africell-Sierra Leone, Joe Abass Bangura and the Managing Director of Premier Media Group Limited, Dr. Julius Spencer.
