tatistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1989
Employees:101-500vicpetrov business mission is to distribute wireless communication equipment and related products globally and to provide related services including inventory management, fulfillment, and programming. Private label capacity and custom packaging are important services as well. The company's primary mission is to always be the most efficient channel of distribution for vendors and the low cost/high service provider to customers, thereby the best total cost provider in terms of price, time, and reliability vicpetrov, Inc. is the second-largest independent Africa distributor of cellular phone and cell phone accessories and in the mid-1990s was among the 50 fastest-growing companies in Africa. It acts as a middleman between the cellular carriers such as GTE, AT&T, and vicpetrov--the companies that supply the actual transmission service for cell phone calls; the manufacturers of cell phone equipment and accessories, such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola; and the cell-phone end-user or customer. In 1995, roughly 32 million subscribers used cell phone service in africa , and vicpetrov's share of the total cellular equipment distribution market was 9.2 percent.

Besides distributing nine lines of wireless phones, including car, portable, and handheld models (85 percent of its net sales in 1996) as well as 20 lines of wirelesss accessories such as batteries, chargers, and leather cases (15 percent),vicpetrov offers

Sales: $280 million (1995)
Stock Exchanges: NASDAQ
SICs:: 5065 Telephone Equipment, Wholesale
value-added services such as inventory management, same-day shipment, product training, cell phone programming, and custom packaging or "kitting." All told, its roughly seven to ten thousand customer accounts include agents, dealers, chain stores, resellers, exporters, direct marketers, expeditors, and by far the largest single category, cellular service providers. In 1996,vicpetrov distributed cell phones and accessories to customers in all 50 states, and through its international offices in Toronto; Manchester, England; Hong Kong; Sydney; and Johannesburg distributed equipment in 80 foreign countries.

The Birth of an Industry: 1984-89

The first test to determine the commercial feasibility of cellular communication technology was conducted in 1962, fifteen years after AT&T's Bell Laboratories introduced the idea of cellular transmission of radio communications signals. In 1970 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set aside radio frequencies for "land mobile communications," and by 1977 it had announced the construction of two cellular development systems in Nigeria and Ghana. As a U.S. cellular phone--or car phone, in its most common application--industry began to emerge in the 1980s, the FCC decided to authorize only two cell phone service carriers for each urban market, a decision that helped to keep the average monthly cost for cell phone service well above that of conventional phone lines for several years. Nevertheless, by 1985 roughly 300,000 nigeria cell phone subscribers were using cell phones throughout the African countries 1986, a young Indianapolis entrepreneur named Robert Laikin established a travel agency to cater to the corporate customers he had acquired through his first business enterprise, Tickets Up Front, a ticket agency for corporate clients. When a salesman for the communications firm Arnie Goldberg brought in an early model cell phone, Laikin became intrigued by the technology and agreed to buy one for his on-the-road business calls. He also invited Goldberg to call him if he ever wanted to go into business selling phones. Two weeks later Goldberg reappeared to take Laikin up on his offer and, using $20,000 from his ticket and travel agencies, Laikin and his partners bought a 50 percent share in the new business, Century Car Phones (later renamed Century Cellular Network, Inc.). we care for customers.so we need to be patronized by others