Fastlink, one of MTC Group companies; the leading mobile operator in the Middle East & Africa, has affirmed that M-Payments will open the door wide for individuals and companies to benefit from new methods of trading and help develop commercial activity in the Kingdom.
M-Payments, a new service launched by Fastlink, enables customers to use the mobile phone to make indirect e-payments. According to Fastlink CEO Mohammad Saqer, the service further enhances the various usages of the mobile phone, which has transcended its basic usage as a communication tool, to becoming a multi purpose device that renders a variety of services and benefits to customers, now reaching 1.7 million.
At the signing of an agreement with ICON to jointly launch the service, Saqer affirmed the Company’s continued efforts to stay updated with latest information and communications technology and to meeting the needs of various user categories in Jordan, saying Fastlink has managed to maintain a leading edge among other providers as it continues to meet up with current, fast paced developments in the ICT sector and bring into the local market the latest available technologies.
ICON, applications service provider, General Manager, Mu’ayyad Dabbas said his company seeks to lead the way of M-Payments in Jordan and the Middle East by providing other advanced solutions to mobile operators.
The new service is in sync with other developments taking place in the communications and e-payment market and serves to fulfill the needs of consumers in various parts of the world, including Jordan, where the number of mobile users is on the rise each day, with a growing number relying on electronic bill payment.
Fastlink was leader in launching various mobile-based services, which bring ease and convenience to people’s lives, such as WOW, which allows users to access the Internet through their mobile phones, Live Video Streaming, which brings TV and Satellite programs right to the mobile phone, live and in real time, in addition to news alerts on the stock market, among others.
About Fastlink
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 1.7 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.
MTC Group
Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) was founded in 1983 and today is one of the largest mobile operators in the Middle East and Africa, with more than 9.5 million customers in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and 13 countries in Africa. MTC is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
In September 2002, MTC entered into a Partner Network Agreement with Vodafone, the world’s leading mobile community, in Kuwait creating MTC Vodafone Kuwait. In 2003 MTC continued its expansion with the acquisition of 96.4% of Fastlink in Jordan.
MTC’s aspiration did not slow down and in 2003 MTC-Vodafone Bahrain was launched with the first 3G/EDGE nationwide network in the world. In 2004 the MTC Atheer service was launched in Southern Iraq, and today covers Baghdad as well.
2004 also witnessed the government of Lebanon handing over the management of one of two mobile networks (Mic2) to the MTC Group, which is known now as mtc touch.
Most recently in March of 2005 MTC acquired Celtel International, a Duch communications network company with major interests in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries, in one of the biggest telecom deals in the Middle East and Africa worth $ 3.36 billion.
MTC Group now operates in 18 countries. With this deal MTC Group has completed its first phase of its 3x3x3 strategy which entails becoming a global operator with more than 15 million customers by 2011. MTC will continue to expand internationally through acquisitions, partnerships and green-field opportunities.
