Airtel, the mobile services provider that took over Warid Telkom in Uganda earlier this year, has been recognized as the African Operator of the Year at the CommsMEA Awards 2013. Executives including telecoms CEOs, vendors, ministers and regulators attended the 8th edition of the event at a 300-strong gathering at the Awards gala dinner held at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai. The award recognizes excellence within the telecoms sector across the Middle East and Africa. By beating some seriously strong contenders on the shortlist, Airtel has been recognized as the best African Operator.
The winners were decided from a record number of nominations by a judging panel consisting of:
- Akshay Lamba, chief architect and head of IT strategy at MTS
- Milan Sallaba, managing director at Accenture Middle East
- Erik Almqvist, partner and global head of operational consulting at Analysys Mason
- Mark Kremers, partner at Oliver Wyman
- Riad Hartani, partner at Xona,
- and Alan Horne, CEO Broadband Pioneer and Special Advisor to Global eHealth Foundation
“We are humbled by this recognition and the trust that the international industry panel, consumers and other stakeholders have placed on Airtel since our entry into Africa in 2010. During the past three years, we have managed to serve more communities within the countries that we operate in and hopefully change their lives through not only the voice but also the data and mobile commerce services that we provide. The latter are increasingly becoming essential in Africa.” said Andre Beyers, the Chief Marketing Officer at Airtel Africa on the achievement.
Airtel Africa now has the largest 3G network with 3G services in 14 African countries and Mobile Commerce country footprint in 17 countries in Sub Saharan Africa through a network of over 100,000 agent locations providing access to financial services for the unbanked population. A recent survey conducted by the African Business magazine indicates that Airtel is one of Africa’s top ten most admired global brands despite only a 3 year presence in Africa.
