bharti, Reliance jio to share telecom infra

The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio Infocomm and the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel — two players that could soon be seen locking horns in the 4G long-term evolution (LTE) space — on Tuesday signed an agreement to share telecom infrastructure.

This includes sharing of inter- and intra-city fibre-optic networks, submarine cable networks, towers and internet broadband services, besides other opportunities identified later. In a joint statement, the two said the cooperation was aimed at avoiding duplication of infrastructure, wherever possible, and to preserve capital and the environment.

“This will... ensure seamless services to customers of both parties. The arrangement could, in future, be extended to roaming on 2G, 3G and 4G, and other mutually-benefitting areas relating to telecommunication, including, but not limited to, jointly laying fibre-optic or other forms of infrastructure services. The pricing would be at ‘arm’s length’, based on prevailing market rates,” the joint statement said.

source: www.bussiness-standard.com

MER group telecom division successfully delivers mobile financial services to ivory coastal postal services

The Mobile FinaGate will provide La Poste with a complete MFS platform that incorporates a range of functionalities and services that include the creation of m-accounts, deposits and withdrawals, P2P money transfers, m-commerce, bill payments, top-up services, account management function and budget management for government agencies. In addition, the Mobile FinaGate offers several unique features that enable La Poste to effectively enlarge the eco-system of MFS users. These include a variety of access methods for smart phones and features phones as well as web access, multi-language, multi-currency and multi-account functionalities, fully hosted services with a "pay-as-you-grow" approach and embedded security elements.

MER Telecom Division acted as a trusted advisor providing consultancy services to help grow the MFS eco-system and, together with La Poste, successfully negotiated cooperation agreements with local bank and cellular operators. La Poste will enlist two government organizations within the Ministry of Education to implement the Mobile FinaGate Secure Budget Management service and intend to engage the craftsmen organization to adopt m-Poste as their main means of financial transactions.

"Over 90% of the population in Côte d'Ivoire has access to a mobile phone, but only 14% have access to financial services,"says Oz Ovady, CEO of the Telecom Division. "La Poste has recognized the huge potential for mobile financial services in reaching this unbanked population. They have a strong presence nationwide and aim at securing approximately 10% of mobile phone users as MFS users within the next five years."

This number can be significantly higher with the recruitment of government agencies and organizations using Mobile FinaGate's unique Secure Budget Management services. These services offer full transparency and improve fraud prevention though the use of dedicated money and dedicated budget transfer for the correct dispersal of funds.

In addition to Mobile Financial Services (MFS), the division provides a wide range of innovative solutions including telecom infrastructure, M2M enablement and vertical market applications, Cloud Billing, MVNO enablement, Smart City, as well as on/off board and remote/contactless payment solutions for public transport operators.