Effortel has expanded its global footprint by delivering business-to-business solutions and services for customers across the MVN value chain
LONDON, U.K. — June 13, 2017 — Based on its recent analysis of the mobile virtual network (MVN) industry, Frost & Sullivan recognises Effortel with the 2017 African Visionary Innovation Leadership Award. By positioning itself at the point of convergence of technological and social Mega Trends, Effortel is playing a definitive role in shaping Kenya’s MVN industry. Since the launch of its first proprietary MVN operator (MVNO) business in Belgium in 2006, Effortel has evolved to become a pioneering MVNO in the business-to-consumer market and an innovative MVN enabler (MVNE).
“Through vertical diversification in the form of backward business integration, Effortel expanded while simultaneously facilitating the development of the entire MVN industry,” said Frost & Sullivan Programme Manager, Anesu Charamba. “Its executive team enhanced the company’s value proposition by offering its wealth of industry expertise to companies that intended to enter the industry as MVNOs. In November 2014, Effortel officially extended this vision to Kenya’s market to gain a first-mover advantage.”
Validating Effortel’s early acknowledgement of its potential, Kenya has become a hotbed of disruptive business models, with the mobile technology sector leading from the front. Although the industry in Kenya, and in Africa as a whole, is still nascent, Effortel is managing close to 3 million Kenyan subscribers on its platform.
Business model innovations in Kenya, similar to the rest of the world, are heavily influenced by the Mega Trend of convergence. One of the biggest gainers of this trend has been the Kenyan banking industry, which is employing mobile technology as an additional engagement channel to serve its customers better. Likewise, mobile operators are in a position to make financial services available to their customers to enhance their product portfolios and value propositions.
In February 2006, Effortel launched its first co-owned MVNO, Carrefour Mobile, in Belgium. As one of the largest global retailers, the Carrefour Group provided Effortel with a platform to expand its business aggressively across the former’s geographical footprint. The company followed this with Carrefour Mova Poland in April 2008 and Carrefour Taiwan in November 2008, garnering solid proof of concept and a significant competitive advantage as it entered the business-to-business MVNE space. Effortel’s presence across three continents proves its capability to tailor turnkey solutions and services to each market’s unique needs.
To facilitate MVNO operations, Effortel requires the cooperation of MNOs that are looking to diversify their revenue streams while reducing operational costs. The company has integrated seven global MNOs into the MVN industry since it commenced operations. Furthermore, Effortel partnered with Airtel, the second-largest telecommunications operator in Kenya, to aid the growth of the MVN industry as well as provide Airtel with an opportunity to maximise its return on infrastructure investment.
Effortel’s time to market is usually six months from contract engagement, enabling an MVNO to introduce value-added offerings to compete against existing MNOs. The company employs best-in-class global technology to manage its business processes, while its centralised operations present a common platform by Amdocs, a global leader in customer experience software solutions for service providers in the communication and media industry.
“Effortel provides end-to-end services to MVNOs; its extensive experience positions it to cost effectively launch and maintain MVNOs with services, including application platforms and subscriber, billing, and top-up management,” noted Charamba. “It has also made the most of its expertise in regulatory compliance, market research, business, marketing, and technology implementation planning to entrench itself in the market.”
Overall, Effortel’s singular focus on advanced MVNE services that deliver differentiated benefits makes it richly deserving of Frost & Sullivan’s 2017 African Visionary Innovation Leadership Award.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated the understanding to leverage global Mega Trends and integrate the vision into processes to achieve strategic excellence. The award recognises the efficacy of the recipient’s innovative process and the impact it has on business and society at large.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
About Effortel
Effortel is the only MVNE worldwide that has deployed and is running a centralized real-time IN (intelligent network) system. It is currently integrated with 6 mobile operators across 7 countries (Belgium, Italy, Oman, Poland, Taiwan, Malta and Kenya) and 3 continents.
Currently, Effortel manages multiple MVNOs on its platforms – three MVNOs in cooperation with Carrefour (Carrefour Mobile Belgium, Carrefour Uno Mobile Italy and Carrefour Telecom Taiwan), as well as providing MVNE services to Daily Telecom in Italy, VOO in Belgium, Globe in Italy, Equitel in Kenya, Vodafone and Total Erg in Italy, Vodafone Malta in Malta, and Bakcell in Azerbaijan. Several other MVNOs including Carrefour Mova (Poland), FM Group (Poland), Samatel (Oman Sultanate) and Vodafone Bladna in Italy have been enabled by Effortel.
Effortel is a leading MVNO consultant with Tier-1 clients such as Globe (Philippines) and Eagle Mobile (Albania).
For more information and contact details, visit Effortel at www.Effortel.com
About Frost & Sullivan
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