India’s Netxcell is reportedly ready to sign deals with MTN, France’s Orange Africa and Vodafone Africa in a move that will see them positioned to enter the $300-million mobile value-added service market in Africa.
“We are very excited about this possible deal and hopefully it will mean the roll-out of new and better infrastructure in Africa for telecom operators,” said John Miganbe, a Ugandan ministry of communications official responsible for rural telecom development.
He argued that Indian companies understand how to boost rural area development and the future of Africa “is in getting companies that understand the importance of rural development into the mix.”
According to officials and local media reports in Africa, the advanced talks with the firms are looking to deliver services on both 2G and 3G networks, including customer lifecycle management solutions on the pre-paid and post-paid platforms.
According to a top executive, Netxcell will launch operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Ghana, Mozambique and Angola, as the company is already present in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Sudan and Uganda.
Netxcell currently operates in Africa through its Mauritius-based subsidiary Netxcell Mauritius (NML).
Andrew Matapare
Great to know Netxcell beefing up operations in East and Central Africa. Am amazed specially for their focus on Central Africa as this is neglected terrain. Generally VAS providers refer Central Africa as low ARPU markets with no power backups.. This results in high operational costs for telcos and very very very low margins for creative value added service roll outs.. Need to watch this corner in coming days….