Netxcell to grab a slice of mobile market in Africa

KOLKATA: Netxcell Ltd, the Hyderabadbased telecoms applications service provider, is set to ink deals with MTN, France Telecomcontrolled Orange Africa and Vodafone's Africa arm Vodacom to grab a slice of the $300-million mobile value-added service market in Africa. It is in advanced talks with the firms to deliver services on both 2G and 3G networks, including customer lifecycle management solutions on the pre-paid and post-paid platforms.

Netxcell operates in Africa through its Mauritius-based subsidiary Netxcell Mauritius (NML). Over the next six months, NML will launch operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Ghana, Mozambique and Angola, a top company executive with direct knowledge of the matter told ET. The company is present in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Sudan and Uganda. Netxcell Mauritius is a 51:49 JV between Netxcell and Kenya's Aqua-SanTec Group that was established a year ago.

Parent Netxcell is the telecoms software arm of Hyderabad-based Prathima Group that has interests in technology, healthcare, medical education, construction, engineering and entertainment. "We plan to deliver the full spectrum of mobile VAS solutions to MTN, France Telecom-controlled Orange Africa and Vodacom. Since 3G has already gained traction in key Africa markets unlike in India, a lot of our applications will be tailormade for 3G networks," Netxcell CEO Debasish Chatterji said.

He said the company would shortly conduct field trials of its video outbound dialing (VOBD) software in 3G networks across Africa. Among a host of mobile VAS solutions, the company plan to commercialise its video outbound dialing software that can be used by a telco for video advertising to 3G users and promoting products and services. The software application is delivered, typically, through video calls that are increasingly becoming popular in Africa. At present, there are some 510 million mobile subscribers in Africa,


the likes of MTN, Vodacom, Bharti Airtel, Orange, Orascom and Maroc Telecom collectively control 65% of cellular turf. While telecom penetration levels in the southern and northern Africa markets is close to 88% and 76%, respectively, mobile teledensity levels in eastern and central African markets remains a paltry 27%.

Small wonder, Netxcell's target markets will be those in eastern and central Africa. "We believe there are serious opportunities in the eastern and central African bloc where telecom penetration is low. NML has recently launched sales and marketing offices in Nairobi, Kampala, Dare Salam, Kigali to address market opportunities in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda where MTN, Orange and Vodacom are present.

In the second stage, we are looking to expand into Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Zambia and Angola. We plan to also develop a full-fledged mobile VAS ecosystem in select African markets by partnering with local content developers and integrators," said Chatterji. But he concedes that grabbing market share in the mobile VAS space will be no cakewalk for Netxcell, especially since rival Indian companies like Conviva, IMI Mobile and Spice Digital are already active in Africa.