Zain, Ericsson and GSMA Continue Efforts to Save Lives by Launching
Safety and Security Initiative A
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - Pan-Africa mobile operator Zain, and Ericsson, in an initiativecoordinated by the GSM Association, continue their efforts to savelives and bring development across the Lake Victoria region, byextending the mobile network coverage of the three East AfricanStates and launching a safety and security initiative. The coveragewill comprise the area of the lake where 80 percent of fishingactivities take place, allowing communication and SMS exchange to andfrom phones. This enhancement will fuel economic and socialdevelopment of the lakeside communities and potentially reduce thenumber of fishing-related deaths each year.Ericsson, Zain and the GSMA have worked together to improve safetyand security through enhanced mobile coverage. Thanks to the project,the Lake Victoria region now has an additional 21 energy-efficientsites, with three of them solar powered, and a Rescue CoordinationCentre has been established. Local stakeholders supporting theproject include the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF)and its local representative the National Lake Rescue Institute(NLRI).Lake Victoria is the second largest lake in the world with nearly200,000 fishermen, 35 million people living along its shores and afishing fleet of more than 70,000 boats. This armada of boats,powered by paddling or small engines, is operated with poor safetyand security due mainly to a lack of available communication systems.Weather conditions can change suddenly and strong winds can occurwithout much warning, boats are often overloaded, most of the peoplecan't swim and buoyancy or life saving equipment is not easilyavailable. As a result many lives are lost due to drowning in thelake (estimated 5,000 deaths per year). It is expected that thisintervention will go a long way towards improving conditions on thelake."Zain is committed to improving the lives of the people in thecommunities where ever we operate. This is what our brand promise ofa wonderful world is all about. The initiative will greatly benefitthe communities around Lake Victoria and will substantially improveboth the social and economic development in the region; It will offera foundation for sustainable development in the surroundingcommunities," said Chris Gabriel, CEO Zain Africa."Mobile communications play an important role in helping communitiesto develop sustainably," said Lars Lindén, President Ericssonsub-Saharan Africa. "Building out the mobile networks in this regionis a key business interest for Ericsson, but it will also play avital role in delivering increased safety and security, as well asimproved economic viability and livelihoods. Working inpartnership has enabled us to achieve what no one of us could havedone alone, and if we can reduce, by even one death, of the more than5000 each year, it will be worth the investment.""As the East African community gets connected to undersea cables forthe first time, the communities of Lake Victoria can now access amobile safety net," said Gabriel Solomon, Senior Vice President GSMAssociation. "It is now incumbent upon the governments of East Africato leverage this network by partnering with the private sector anddelivering a rainbow of new services."The initial Phase of the Lake Victoria Project entailed a feasibilitystudy looking at how the rescue initiative would be undertaken in acommercially sustainable way. Phase II targets the implementation ofan operational Search and Rescue facility with a framework to providethe necessary tools to provide valuable services. The GSM networkenables voice and data communication on and around Lake Victoria.Zain has developed Value Added Services that will enable fishermen onthe lake to, through SMS and voice calls, find critical informationsuch as fish and commodity prices and receive weather and safetyalerts. The expanded network will also make it possible to collectdata on daily catch from the more than 1,400 Beach Management Unitsin Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.The new network will provide crucial information to enable a vastnumber of vital services, such as search and rescue, fleet movementand tracking. Ericsson's Mobile Position System will enable emergencyauthorities to locate the mobile signal of those in distress on theLake and send the details to the Rescue Coordination Centre, whichwill be operated by NLRI. -ENDS-Notes to editors:Pictures related to the project can be found at:www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/photos/lake_victoria.shtmlAbout ZainZain is a leading emerging markets player in the field oftelecommunications aiming to become one of the top ten mobileoperators in the world by 2011. Today it is the 4th largest mobilenetwork in the world in terms of geographical footprint withcommercial presence in 24 countries spread across the Middle East andAfrica providing mobile voice and data services to over 64.7 millionactive customers as of May 2009.Zain operates in the following countries: Bahrain, Burkina Faso,Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of theCongo, Gabon, Ghana, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi,Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan,Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In Lebanon, the company manages thenetwork on behalf of the government operating as mtc-touch. InMorocco, Zain in a joint venture owns 31% of Wana Telecom. On May 18,2009, Zain entered into an agreement with Palestinian operator Paltelto attain a 56.5% stake in the company serving 1.5 million mobilecustomers.The company offers innovative services in its markets such as OneNetwork, the world's first borderless mobile telecommunicationnetwork enabling customers to receive calls and sms without chargeand to make them at local rates throughout many countries in Africaand the Middle East.The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications CompanyKSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker:ZAIN). Zain is listed in the Financial Times' Global 500 Index whichranks the world's largest companies based on market capitalization(http://www.ft.com/reports/ft5002008).For more, please visit www.zain.com or email info(at)zain.comAbout EricssonEricsson is the world's leading provider of technology and servicesto telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobiletechnologies, and provides support for networks with over 1 billionsubscribers and has a leading position in managed services. Thecompany's portfolio comprises of mobile and fixed networkinfrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimediasolutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The SonyEricsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers withfeature-rich personal mobile devices.Ericsson is advancing its vision of "to be the prime driver in anall-communicating world" through innovation, technology, andsustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than75,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 209 billion (USD 32.2billion) in 2008. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm,Sweden, Ericsson is listed on OMX NASDAQ, Stockholm and NASDAQ NewYork.www.ericsson.com, www.ericsson.mobi, www.twitter.com/ericssonpressAbout the GSMAThe GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobilecommunications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unitesnearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers,software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, andmedia and entertainment organisations. The GSMA is focused oninnovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for itsmembership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobilecommunications industry.For more information, please visit http://www.gsmworld.comFor more information please contact:Zain Media Relationsinfo(at)zain.comEricsson Media RelationsPhone: +46 8 719 69 92E-mail: press.relations(at)ericsson.comGSMApress(at)gsm.orghttp://hugin.info/1061/R/1330925/314757.pdfThis announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Datum: 27.07.2009 - 10:04 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 3989
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Town:
London
Kategorie:
Business News
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 291 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Zain, Ericsson and GSMA Continue Efforts to Save Lives by Launching
Safety and Security Initiative A"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
Ericsson (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
