Ooredoo took home four awards at the “8th Annual Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards” held in London, the company announced yesterday.
Two Ooredoo companies, Ooredoo Tunisia and Indosat, both received awards in the “Consumer Service Innovation” category. The awards included prizes for Indosat’s Ideabox start-up accelerator and Dompetku mobile money service as well as Ooredoo Tunisia’s MobiFlouss prepaid mobile money service and Customer Self-Care portal.
Dr Nasser Marafih, chief executive officer, Ooredoo Group, said the awards demonstrate the diverse range of Ooredoo services “that are making people’s lives better” in countries around the world.
“We are also focusing on delivering the best possible customer experience using advanced broadband technology – and I am very pleased that the global communications industry has recognised our significant progress in this area,” Marafih said.
The judges of the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards noted that this year’s event had more nominations and competition, with two of the biggest growth areas in the telecommunications industry being mobile money and machine-to-machine services.
Ooredoo’s success in the mobile money sphere, with both Ooredoo Tunisia and Indosat receiving awards for their specific services, is another significant milestone for the company, which currently has more than 1mn mobile money customers around the world.
Ooredoo Tunisia’s MobiFlouss service works with a wide range of banks to enable customers to transfer money, check bills, and pay for bills and goods. Students have also been using MobiFlouss to directly receive government scholarships in their mobile wallets – the region’s first deployment of a government-to-person mobile money service.
Indosat launched its Dompetku Mobile Wallet and Mobile Money Service in July 2013 in partnership with QNB Kesawan. Available on smart, feature, and basic handsets, the service targets Indonesia’s “unbanked,” which amounts to approximately 60% of the population.
The judges also recognised Ooredoo’s success in deploying technology to enhance customer experience.
Ooredoo Tunisia’s self-care portal enables customers to buy credit, bundles, and upgrades, as well as access new services and monitor their spending. Customers can activate and buy credit packages in a couple of clicks through a web browser, gadget, widget, or App. Since the portal was launched, the uptake of 3G data packages through the self-care portal has grown to more than 50% as customers find it easier to select a package that best suit their needs.
The judges also praised Indosat’s work in supporting promising Indonesian entrepreneurs and start-ups through their Ideabox initiative.
Indosat’s Ideabox is a premium accelerator that chooses three to six mobile technology start-ups every six months to go through a rigorous 120-day acceleration programme.
The programme provides funding, dedicated facilities, and most importantly mentoring from both local and international start-up experts. Companies graduating from the accelerator get priority access to Indosat’s infrastructure and customer base for immediate scale-up.
The accelerator is part of Indosat’s portfolio of initiatives to build a strong digital ecosystem across its broadband network. In its first cycle, Ideabox selected and accelerated four start-ups out of 100 applicants, including Dealoka, an innovative mobile coupon application; Ngomik, a digital comics platform; Shoop!, a hyper social eCommerce platform; and Unyu, a sticker-based communication service for
feature phones.
Organised by Global Telecoms Business magazine, the awards recognise innovation and excellence throughout the international telecoms industry. This year, entrants competed in five categories: fixed network infrastructure innovation, wireless network infrastructure innovation, wholesale service innovation, business service innovation and consumer service innovation.
The Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards have become one of the most prestigious awarding events of the telecoms calendar. Now on its eighth year, 2014 attracted more entries and higher profile attendance than in previous competitions.