Bharti Airtel and Kenya Airways have announced a partnership that will see Airtel host Kenya Airways as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on its network.
The companies said the move is aimed at deepening mobile penetration and providing innovative value added services. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which is subject to regulatory approvals, was signed by Kenya Airways chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director Titus Naikuni and Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria.
Under the agreement Airtel will provide network infrastructure services to Kenya Airways, meaning the Kenya Airways MVNO will provide cellular mobile services including customer registration, SIM card issuance, billing and customer care to end users without holding a spectrum licence.
Naikuni said related details will be announced at a later stage once the necessary regulatory licensing and related requirements have been completed, a process which has already been initiated with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK).
In this venture, Kenya Airways will rely on its existing customer service and sales infrastructure such as its sales offices and customer contact centre.
In a joint statement issued by the two companies, Airtel said it was delighted to be the mobile operator pioneering this innovation in the telecoms Industry in Africa, saying the MVNO services will run on the unused capacity on its network to ensure it maintains seamless quality experience to consumers.
De Faria said: “We are greatly encouraged by the shared vision with Kenya Airways and the common urgency to find solutions that will enable travelling customers connect to their loved ones and businesses throughout their travel. It is a pioneering step forward in the industry in our quest to make telephony and m-commerce available to all in Africa, thereby improving people’s quality of life and helping economic growth.”
In April this year, the CAK licensed Zioncell, Tangaza Pesa and Finserve Africa – a subsidiary of Equity Bank – as MNVOs, allowing them to provide all forms of mobile cellular services to customers using the communications infrastructure of an existing mobile network operator.
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