Amsterdam — Celtel Zambia has announced the introduction for all its subscribers of SMS - Short Messaging Service or as is quoted by some, Something Much Shorter, meaning in place of making long calls, at times it may be easier (and cost effective) to send a quick text message to a single users handset or to a group of Celtel users at any time.
Announcing the launch of the service the companies Sales and Marketing Manager Chrispine Kagulurah.said "cellular users in other world markets have enjoyed SMS for quite some time and we decided it was about time Zambian subscribers also had the opportunity to benefit from such a service. World wide SMS is booming with millions of SMS's being sent each day, for example in South Africa, one operator reported more than 9 million SMS messages sent via it's network on Christmas Day and at midnight on December 31st, the same operator reported 18 million messages handled by the network. One great benefit is that unlike voice messages you don't need to make a call to receive a message they're simply on your phone waiting to be read, you can even receive messages whilst making a call."
Celtel is offering promotional tariffs of $0.06 per message within Zambia and $0.12 per message for sending Internationally.
Chrispine added "The new Celtel SMS comes with a host of new features, for example, Pre-paid subscribers will now be able to check their balances for free, by sending a blank message to the 959 number. Subscribers will be able to 'Top-Up their talk time by simply sending their recharge number, an SMS to 958 and the service will facilitate the forwarding and copying of a message to other subscribers. Celtel SMS will also enable an SMS to be programmed for another subscriber to receive at a time of convenience, for example if your message is due the following week you can plan it to be delivered to the receipt of that week in advance". Celtel's Managing Director Steve Torode added "this is yet another Celtel first, designed to enhance even further the service and benefits of Celtel and is further evidence of the Celtel commitment to continually enhance and develop the service it offers to it's customers."
Notes to Editors
MSI has been licensed by 12 Governments in Africa, representing more than one-third of the population of the African continent, to operate GSM cellular networks, which are mainly branded "Celtel".
MSI has operations in Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, the Republic of Congo ("Congo Brazzaville"), Gabon, Sierra Leone, Chad, Burkina Faso and Democratic Republic of Congo ("Congo Kinshasa"), Sudan and Niger. In Tanzania, MSI has a 35% equity stake and management control of Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL). TTCL launched the Celtel Tanzania cellular network as an independent subsidiary company. In Egypt, MSI is a founding shareholder and minority partner in Vodafone Egypt.
Shareholders in MSI include:
- CDC Capital Partners, a leading risk capital investor in emerging markets, with over US$1.5 billion invested in some 50 emerging countries. -
- IFC (International Finance Corporation) the private sector arm of the World Bank and the largest source of private equity for developing countries. -
- AIG Infrastructure Fund, sponsored by AIG and managed by EMP, the largest private equity infrastructure manager in emerging markets with nearly US$5 billion under management. -
- Zephyr Asset Management, the US based emerging market fund. -
- Citigroup, the global financial services group. -
- Bessemer Venture Partners, the investment arm of one of the oldest funds in the USA. -
- Palio, the Swiss technology investment company. -
- FMO, the Dutch development institution and DEG, the German development institution. -
- Old Mutual Asset Management in South Africa. -
Visit MSI's website on www.msi-cellular.com.
