Mozilla is planning to introduce its Firefox OS in Africa with mobile operators Airtel, MTN South Africa and Tigo being the first carriers to launch the operating system through a partnership with the company.
Firefox OS, introduced last year into the market, is built on an open-source platform with features developed to suite the HTML5 application and open Web APIs, making it unique from other operating systems.
The African launch will make the OS available in five continents, with current availability in South America, Asia, Europe and Australia accounting for presence of the Firefox OS in 25 markets.
Mozilla’s Vice President of Planning and Ecosystem Rick Fant said, “We are proud to see that with Airtel, MTN South Africa and Tigo, Firefox OS gains additional support to soon extend the Firefox OS footstep into Africa.”
Firefox OS aims to help remove control points that are present in closed mobile ecosystems that exist today.
“The continued growth of Firefox OS holds great promise for enabling millions more people to access the mobile Web at an affordable cost,” Fant added.
Firefox OS will join the existing mobile operating platforms in the market such as Android, Windows Phone and iOS.
With the latest launch of the Firefox OS to other markets taking place two months ago in India, Mozilla is yet to disclose the date when the Firefox OS will debut in Africa or the smartphones to be introduced.
