Airtel to offer international mobile top-up through Prepay Nation’s North American and European retail channels.
Philadelphia, PA (USA), Wednesday – December 14, 2011 — Prepay Nation, one of the fastest growing providers of international airtime transfers for prepaid mobile operators in emerging nations, has announced an alliance with one of Africa’s largest mobile service providers, Airtel Nigeria. Through the partnership, individuals living in the US, Canada, and Europe will be able to transfer small currency values to Airtel Nigeria customers in the form of airtime minutes, from a diverse array of convenient retail locations.
The partnership will provide the significant and growing Nigerian expatriate community in North America and Europe—estimated at over 5 million individuals—as well as those with loved ones living and working abroad in Nigeria, with access to instant International Mobile Top Up (IMTU) service through Prepay Nation’s retail distribution network ( http://www.prepaynation.com ). The service provides a vital avenue through which customers can support their Nigeria-based friends, colleagues, and loved ones, instantaneously replenishing their mobile airtime minutes from a nearby partner retailer.
“We are proud to join forces with Airtel Nigeria,” said Sarah Feidt, Head of Marketing at Prepay Nation. “Our services bring great value to mobile customers, and Airtel Nigeria is exactly the kind of operator whose dedication to their customer base makes us a natural fit. We’re also pleased to serve the Nigerian diaspora, which remits an estimated $20 billion annually; being able to send small amounts to their loved ones instantly in the form of airtime minutes will no doubt be extremely valuable to this supportive demographic.”
Airtel Nigeria is the Nigerian arm of Bharti Airtel Limited, an international global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa and over 200 million customers, 50 million of whom are in Africa. The company offers mobile voice and data services, as well as fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, and other enterprise telecom services. In June of 2010, Airtel entered the African market with the purchase of Zain Africa, a leading mobile operator and developer of telecom operations across the continent. Since then, Airtel has enjoyed substantial growth, and has continued to innovate; the company recently announced plans to upgrade 250 of its diesel-powered Nigerian base stations to operate on solar power.
“This partnership is yet another example of our commitment to our Nigerian customers, and our dedication to continual and reliable growth and improvement,” said Deepak Srivastava, ED and COO of Airtel Nigeria. “Our customers rely on us to provide top performance and services that enhance their lives, and making IMTU available through Prepay Nation is one more way that we’re accomplishing that.”
Nigeria, with over 90.5 million mobile phone subscribers, is the largest mobile market in Africa; Airtel Nigeria’s 16 million customers represent over 17% of the market. To learn more about the company, visit http://www.ng.airtel.com.
About Bhati Airtel Limited:
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. The company offers 3G voice & data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH, turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national & international long distance services to carriers globally. In rest of the geographies it offers mobile voice & high speed wireless internet. Bharti Airtel has been ranked among the six best performing technology companies in the world by Business Week. Bharti Airtel had over 238 million customers across its operations at the end of October 2011. For more information, visit http://www.airtel.com
About Prepay Nation:
Prepay Nation is a fast growth company in the business of enabling micropayments from one person to another across international borders. Prepay Nation utilizes the prepaid mobile ecosystem to transfer values in the form of international airtime remittance. With mobile operator partnerships in Central America, South America, Caribbean, Asia, and Africa, and a varied distribution channel spanning the US, Canada, and Middle East, Prepay Nation offers its innovative services to expatriates who financially support their loved ones back home. Prepay Nation’s unique business model, highly scalable processing platform, and interconnectivity with mobile operators, allows for instantaneous and no-fee transfers for the consumers and an opportunity to generate significant revenues for the distributors. For more information, visit http://www.prepaynation.com
Press & Media Contact:
Fady Sahhar or Sarah Feidt
XtraGlobex, Inc
1800 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Suite 300
Philadelphia, PA 19103 USA
267-238-3820
fady.sahhar@xtraglobex.com / sarah.feidt@xtraglobex.com
