Zain to link other providers to its ‘One Network’

The Zain group is running a pilot test that if successful will see the Africa and Middle East mobile service provider admit rival operators into its ‘One Network’ offering.
“In the Middle East, the operator we are trialing with is from a big country and in Africa, the operator is from a big economy with a big population,” George Held, Zain’s director of products and the One Network said without directly naming the operators or the countries they come from.
Held said the test phase is ongoing and has been successful and Zain and the providers in question are only waiting as the legal and regulatory framework under, which the service will be implemented are worked out.
“It will happen in a few months. Technically it is implemented and right now we just need a legal and regulatory framework in place and then we will officially announce it,” Held said.
The single network offering has been a key factor in helping turn around the fortunes of Zain especially in the East Africa market where the offering has given them a competitive edge over its rivals.
“At any given point in time, a quarter of a million people in East Africa are calling across the three borders at no extra cost and for us that is what it is all about; we are serving the needs of users at minimum cost,” Held said.
The One Network is a borderless mobile telecom service that was launched in September 2006; offering communication services across borders without users having to pay roaming call-surcharges, and it does not require customers to pay for incoming calls.
When Zain (then Celtel) launched the single network across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, it was a world first in telecommunications innovation.
Today, Zain has the service in 17 of its 21 operations with Sierra Leone and Madagascar set to join the single network any time soon
Held said the geographical coverage of the single network is twice the size of the European Union and is accessible to 1 billion people.
He describes the offering as extremely complex from the Zain perspective but is seamless and simple from the user perspective.
Held said that Zain has won many awards with the One Network innovation. Outside of the Zain network, the innovation is being taken up by other mobile operators and is becoming a global standard.
Already, South Africa-based Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN) plans to remove roaming fees across all its 22 operations to essentially create a single network as Zain has done.