Fastlink General Manager Saad Nasir said the company was able to maintain its leading role as a mobile phone provider despite fierce competition and limitation of resources in the Jordanian market, in terms of people’s income and population size compared with neighboring countries.
Nasir said MTC Group’s investment in Fastlink was a first step along the implementation of its ambitious expansion plan, aimed at becoming an international mobile phone provider by the year 2011. Nasir was speaking at a press briefing attended by regional media representatives, who came to Amman to take part in a Motorola Conference. A number of senior MTC personnel are also in the Kingdom to attend the conference. The Group now operates in 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa Region and cooperates with a total of 20 million agents.
Fastlink, with the largest customer base now in excess of 2 million users, relies on a strategy based on people’s needs and the provision of high quality service at competitive rates. A parallel strategy, according to Nasir, aims to contribute to socioeconomic development through the launch of numerous projects and initiatives that target a wide sector of society.
The visiting media were also briefed on the host of services provided by Fastlink as well as technology used to develop the existing communications network. Nasir told the press that some $150 million were invested in the network during 2004-2005. The network today covers 99.9% of populated areas in the Kingdom, directly or through temporary booster networks that serve certain industrial or agricultural projects.
The two day Motorola conference, entitled “MOTO4YOU” shed light on latest network technologies and mobile phones that could help MTC Group reach its targeted one billion customers in the emerging markets of the region.
Nasir said Motorola is one of Fastlink’s major partners, having worked hand in hand with MTC to keep an edge on the market and continue to lead in Jordan and elsewhere.
Fastlink customers, today standing at 2.2 million, make up 39% of overall MTC subscribers in the Middle East and 14% of customers in the Middle East and North Africa.
According to a recent study conducted by MTC in its operations market, mobile phones helped make significant contribution to the business sector’s profitability. He explained that profit surpassed cost for a large number of businesses, pointing that 43% of Jordanians who participated in the study said the mobile phone helped improve their business profitability to 32%.
Nasir said data services are constantly evolving, contributing today to 12% of the total company revenues at a steady annual growth rate, which reached 25% last year.
To further support the local economy and contribute to socioeconomic development, Fastlink works on a parallel strategy aimed at supporting a number of vital sectors in Jordan. Since it was established in 1995, Fastlink has contributed approximately $1 billion to the government’s treasury, through direct and indirect taxes.
Jordan Mobile Telephone Services Company Ltd. “Fastlink”, founded in 1995, was the first operator to introduce mobile phone services into Jordan. In just a few years, the company earned its reputation as the most progressive telecom operator in the region in terms of competitiveness and readiness to adopt new technologies and deploy cutting-edge services. Since its inception, Fastlink has tallied subscriber growth at an exponential rate, with the number of users currently exceeding 2 million subscribers. Through more than 1,700 cell sites, Fastlink covers the entire populated area of the Kingdom. In January 2003, Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C. (MTC) acquired Fastlink in what was considered the largest single acquisition in the Middle East area, and the largest private sector investment in Jordan.
