Corporate Information

Background

29th May 1989 - Emtel Ltd became the first mobile telephony operation in the whole Southern Hemisphere. This major step in Mauritian telecommunications history was the fruit of the collaboration of two pioneering groups – The Currimjee Jeewanjee Group, one of the foremost groups in Mauritius, and Millicom International Cellular (MIC) S.A.,based in Luxembourg.

During these 20 years, Emtel has managed to sustain this innovation drive and still today, the Emtel brand itself is the synonym of technology, innovation and high quality.

Milestones

Milestones set by Emtel have thus paved the last decade to bring telecommunications in Mauritius to new heights:

1989		Emtel is the first cellular operator in the Southern hemisphere.
1995		Emtel was one of the founders of Bharti Cellular Ltd with the first Indian GSM network in New Delhi
1996		Introduction of International Roaming in Mauritius
1998		Emtel Ltd was the first company to introduce prepaid system for its customers hence booming the cellular market and creating massive accessibility to mobile communication.
1999		Emtel introduces new modes of communications with SMS, mobile email and 6-party conferencing.
2000		Emtel Ltd was the first to introduce the Short Message Service (SMS), which in the following years will revolutionize mobile communication. Host of Value Added Services such as Voice Mail - personalized, confidential answering service, SMS, Mobile e-mail, International Roaming Service for those who wish to be accessible whilst traveling overseas, and Mobile Fax among others.
2002		2002 has been marked by the introduction of SMS based information provision and the launch of the first mobile internet portal in Mauritius bringing interaction between web and cellular phone.
2003		Emtel Ltd was the first to integrate music and mobile telephony. The service, JukeBox 135, allows the Emtel subscriber to listen and dedicate songs to any other telephone number. Emtel Ltd was the first to offer the roaming facility to its Prepaid customers. Emtel is certified ISO 9001: 2000 by the prestigious British Standards Institution, showing commitment to offer a customer-focused and high quality service.
2004		Emtel brings a new way of communicating to Mauritius through Multimedia Messaging. Emtel launches its International Call Gateway, offering henceforth a complete communication service to its users. Launch of the WAP portal from where customers can download videos contents, ringtones, games, latest international/sports news and horse racing pictures and videos. Emtel Video Surveillance: with this service customers are able to monitor their house or office remotely with their Emtel 3G mobile. November 29th, Emtel launches the first 3G (UMTS) Network in Africa. A real revolution in telecommunications, with new features like video calling, high speed Internet, video streaming and downloading, location based services and high speed WAP browsing.
2005		Emtel introduces Emtel Caller Tunes which allows customers to personalize their phones by choosing a song to welcome their friends and relatives calling them.
2006		March, Emtel initiates the Video Surveillance service which allows customers using a 3G mobile to keep a watch on the place of their choice (residence or office for example).
		May, Emtel TV now available on 3G mobile phones. Subscribers can carry their favorite TV shows, music, news and sport channels anywhere they go.
		September, Emtel introduces a new electronic system call EPin which enables customers to recharge their prepaid account by SMS from an EPin dealer without using scratch cards.
		December, Emtel customers benefit from the Per Second Billing service which charges all calls as from the first second of the call.
		20th December, Emtel acquires network in Rodrigues, thus providing the same products and services as in Mauritius.
2007		January, Emtel introduces the Emtel BlackBerry which enables customers to have access to a wide range of applications which include e-mail, phone, intranet, Internet, SMS and personal information management applications operating over Emtel's GSM and GPRS network.
		Emtel Ltd launches WIMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) thus providing the latest technology innovation to its subscribers.WIMAX is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances.
		The company is the first to introduce HSDPA (High Speed Data Packet Access) on the local market. It offers 3.5G services, which allows networks to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity wherever they are thanks to the Emtel USB Modem. With Emtel Missed Call Alert, prepaid and postpaid subscribers are notified of all the calls they have missed by SMS, whether they were already on the phone or could not take the call. Emtel Easy Transfer – with this service, prepaid subscribers can transfer between Rs. 5 and Rs. 1000 from their Emtel prepaid to another prepaid.
		Keeping in mind the convenience of its customers, Emtel is expanding its distribution network at a fast rate, with now more than 5000 official agents around the island. With more than 435,000 customers to date, Emtel international standards keep it moving with technology dynamism to continuously bring about new services and products.
		Emtel Ltd is committed to bringing the best of global communication to its customers. Emtel is today offering a one-stop shop telecommunications service to its customers including Voice, Value Added Service, Data and International long distance services.
2008		April, Emtel introduced Gift and Collect SMS, available for both prepaid and postpaid customers. With Gift SMS, customer can send an SMS to another Emtel customer and the latter can repy for free. For Collect SMS, customer can send an SMS even when he is out of credit. Price of the SMS sent will be deducted from his/her correspondent's account. Emtel EPin – customers can now recharge their prepaid account with as low as Rs. 20 (VAT incl.) through this electronic system and from all usual dealers. In August, Emtel introduced Emtel Favourite Numbers. This service allows prepaid subs to register up to 3 Emtel numbers as their favourite numbers and benefit from the lowest prepaid tariffs on the market. Calls towards their favourite numbers are billed 96 cents instead of Rs. 1.20, representing savings of 24 cents/minute on each call. November 19th, After offering the same services at the same tariffs in Rodrigues, Emtel now extends its network to Agalega, where for the first time ever, Agaleans will have access to mobile telephony. This forms part of Emtel's Corporate Social Responsibility. Besides offering 180 mobile phones, Emtel also offered data cards so the Agaleans can have access to the Internet.
2009		April: Emtel Ltd has been successfully upgraded to the ISO 9001:2008 Certification by British Standards Institution. This again shows the commitment to high quality service and dedication to customers.
		29th May – Emtel celebrates its 20th anniversary! On the 2nd of June, Emtel launched its Underground Fibre Optical project at its Boundary Road office. This cable is the first in its kind in Mauritius and it will enable companies and individuals to have access to high speed Internet.  The first phase of the project is 137 Km long. 11th November – Emtel wins the Changing Lives AfricaCom Award in Cape Town for having launched its mobile network in Agalega. This has changed the lives of all Agaleans as they are now able to stay in touch with each other and also with their family and friends in Mauritius and Rodrigues. Agalaeans also have access to the same services and the same tariffs as in Mauritius and Rodrigues.
2010		24th March – Emtel launches a first in the world service, enabling people to benefit from the Convenience of Postpaid and the Freedom of Prepaid while keeping the SAME number. This service enables subscribers to be both Prepaid and Postpaid and they get to keep their existing Emtel number as well as their SIM card.
		28th July – Emtel is the first operator to launch m-Payment services. Postpaid customers can now pay their Emtel bills via SMS anytime, anywhere through a secured and easy transaction, thus paving the way to a second phase where customers will be able to pay for different items such as cinema tickets or utility bills via SMS.