Emtel

Infobox Company
company_name = Emtel
company_
company_type = Private
company_slogan = Challenge Your Imagination
foundation = 29th May 1989
location_city = Ebene City
location_country = Mauritius
industry = Telecommunications
products =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent = Millicom
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.emtel-ltd.com www.emtel-ltd.com]
footnotes =

Emtel Ltd. is an international joint venture between Currimjee Jeewanjee & Co. Ltd. and Millicom International Cellular SA, a leading operator in mobile and other telephone services and systems worldwide. Emtel Ltd. launched its mobile telephone operations in Mauritius in May 1989, establishing itself as the first mobile telephone operator in the Southern Hemisphere.

Emtel Ltd. has evolved from a mobile network operator to an innovative supplier of a range of telecommunication services. In November 2004, Emtel Ltd. became the first country in Africa to launch 3G/UMTS services. The company now operates GSM, GPRS, 3G/UMTS as well as 3.5G/HSDPA and WIMAX networks and offers a range of value-added services supported by state-of-the-art technology and a highly professional team.

Introduction

Background

29th May 1989 - Emtel Ltd became the first mobile telephony operation in the whole Southern Hemisphere. This major step in Mauritian telecommunications history was the fruit of the collaboration of two pioneering groups – The Currimjee Jeewanjee Group, one of the foremost groups in Mauritius, and Millicom International Cellular (MIC) S.A.,based in Luxembourg.

During these 19 years, Emtel has managed to sustain this innovation drive and still today, the Emtel brand itself is the synonym of technology, innovation and high quality.

Milestones

Milestones set by Emtel have thus paved the last decade to bring telecommunications in Mauritius to new heights:
* 1989 Emtel is the first cellular operator in the Southern hemisphere.
* 1995 Emtel was one of the founders of Bharti Cellular Ltd with the first Indian GSM network in New Delhi
* 1996 Introduction of International Roaming in Mauritius
* 1998 Emtel Ltd was the first company to introduce prepaid system for its customers hence booming the cellular market and creating massive accessibility to mobile communication.
* 1999 Emtel introduces new modes of communications with SMS, mobile email and 6-party conferencing.
* 2000 Emtel Ltd was the first to introduce the Short Message Service (SMS), which in the following years will revolutionize mobile communication.
* 2002 2002 has been marked by the introduction of SMS based information provision and the launch of the first mobile internet portal in Mauritius bringing interaction between web and cellular phone.
* 2003 Emtel Ltd integrated music and mobile telephony. The service, JukeBox 135, allows the Emtel subscriber to listen and dedicate songs to any other telephone number. The Company Also launched the roaming facility to its Prepaid Customers on that same year.
* 2004 Emtel brings a new way of communicating to Mauritius through Multimedia Messaging. MMS. During the following months, Emtel Launched the first 3G network in Africa which enabled new services like Video Call, and Video Surveillance where the customer could remotely monitor his house through a webcam connected to the internet on his mobile phone.
* 2005 Emtel Launches Caller Tunes, which allows customers to personalize their Caller Tone.
* 2006 Emtel Networks extends to Rodrigues outer-island. Emtel TV is launched comprising 10 TV channels
* 2007 Emtel Ltd launches WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access).WIMAX is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances. The company is the first to introduce HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) on the local market. It offers 3.5G services, which allows networks to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity wherever they are thanks to the Emtel USB Modem (Huawei E220) With 1.8 Mbit/s maximum downlink speed.

External links

* [http://www.currimjee.com/cluster.aspx?catid=1 www.currimjee.com] - Currimjee's Official Website

References

* [http://www.currimjee.com/cluster_details.aspx?productid=6&catid=1 www.currimjee.com]
* [http://www.emtel-ltd.com/emtel-mauritius.php?category=50 www.emtel-ltd.com]