Jordan
Thirteen years ago the Jordan Mobile Telephone Services Company Ltd: Zain (formerly known as Fastlink) revolutionized telecommunications in the Kingdom by introducing GSM mobile services.
Zain’s leadership of the local and regional telecom sector is attested by its awe inspiring crop of firsts: It was the first Middle Eastern operator to launch MMS and mobile data services and infotainment solutions; the first to introduce WAP connectivity in Jordan; the first to form mobile banking partnerships with leading banks in Jordan; and the first to support Blackberry communication services in Jordan.
Zain in Jordan is the largest telecommunications company and one of the best known brands in Jordan. Hand-in-hand with its investment in the latest technology and services to enrich the lives of its customers, Zain in Jordan also developed the most active and substantive corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme in the country to support education, health, youth and sports.
Regarded as a pillar of the national economy, directly employing over a thousand Jordanians and creating indirect job opportunities for thousands more, the operation is the service provider of choice for more than two million customers.
In 2003 the operation joined the Zain Group (then MTC) in a deal (USD$423.9 million) that was at the time the single largest acquisition in the Middle East and the largest private sector investment in Jordan.
One of the primary objectives of the strategy set since the buyout from Zain was the increase in network capacity and quality in line with international benchmarks. Fastlink (now Zain) had 1,700 cell sites at the end of 2007 offering GSM/GPRS coverage to 99.9% of the populated areas in Jordan despite the challenging, mountainous geography of the country. 70% of Fastlink’s network is over mountainous terrain, which requires superior network design and maintenance capabilities.
Now the company is set for further transformation as it integrates itself fully with the MTC Group under the Zain brand. The family of 2.625 million Jordanian customers now joins an extended community of over 56 million that works together to build a better future.
Fact Box (as at September 30, 2009)
Establishment date: 1994
Staff: 1,100 employees
Active Customers: 2.625 million
Market share: 45%
Roaming: International Voice roaming agreements with 288 operators on 6 continents
GPRS and MMS roaming in 64 countries with 121 operators
Milestones
June 2007 First Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) system in the region,
February 2007 Start of deployment of Fiber Optic Transmission Technology.
January 2006 Established its ISP arm, Fastlink Data
Feb 2005 Introduced 2.75 G (EDGE) technology
October 2005 Offered international gateway services directly through Company’s network
January 2003 MTC acquired 91.6% of Fastlink in 2003, in the largest single acquisition in the Middle East and the largest private sector investment in Jordan at the time
July 2002 Introduced the MMS for the first time in the Arab World.
Jan 2002 Introduced the 2.5G GPRS technology
September 1995 Established as the first mobile phone operator in Jordan
Awards
February 2007 First to introduce the BlackBerry service in 2007, for which it was awarded Research in Motion's (RIM) International Award of Excellence, the only company in the Middle East to receive this honor
January 2006 Won the regional telecom magazine CommsMEA’s award in the category “Best New Non-voice Service” for its BLOG service, which provides an online interactive forum where users can set up their own Blogs and publish articles and thoughts by using the web, MMS and SMS
For more information visit: www.jo.zain.com
