Shyam Roy : “Women and Girls in ICT is a way forward for more equality in society“

tel launched its latest service product, the Home and Office fixed wireless phone last week in the context of World Telecommunications Day. News on Sunday wanted to know about the features and advantages offered by this new service. Shyam Roy, the CEO provides the answers. World Telecommunications Day was celebrated in a very discreet manner. Do you think it helps promote the use of phones in Mauritius?
World Telecoms Day was celebrated in a symbolic manner, as the 17th of May is proclaimed World Day by the International Telecommunications Union. May 17 marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union.
The World Telecommunication and Information society aims at contributing to raise awareness of the possibilities in the use of Internet and information technology and communications (ICT) in economic and social domains and ways to reduce the digital divide. However, one day celebration does not really promote use of phones.

The theme for 2012 is “Women and Girls in ICT.”  Where is the link with Emtel who chose that day for the launching of its new service?
Women are at the heart of our society. They are the backbone of every family and every community. Yet inequalities between women and men remain entrenched. Women and girls are not equally treated on the professional level. They are exposed to segregation when taking economic, political and social decisions and are often victims of violence and discrimination. This is unacceptable and must be remedied by using all means at our disposal.

The choice of the theme selected for the World Day of Telecommunications and Information Society 2012 – ‘Women and Girls in the ICT sector’ aims to ensure that this vulnerable half of the world progresses towards more equality.

At Emtel we are already in the right direction in the realisation of this goal.
At Emtel nearly 40% of our staff are female, in various fields - marketing, finance, engineering management, sales…

What is the progress made by Emtel since its inception at providing updated technological devices?
Since 1989 Emtel is allowing Mauritian citizens to live unique moments, resulting from an entrepreneurial growth and innovation. We have been at the forefront of technology offering services adapted to our customer needs whether they are business leaders or the housewife. Although we live in a very mobile world - with 93% penetration - there are still some user requirements that must be satisfied, having a means of communication at any time with a fixed phone utilised by several persons; as in a house, a bungalow, office or on a worksite. The telephone at home has become just as important as electricity and water, an essential service for a minimum comfort. For this reason we reviewed users’ need and introduced the new service Emtel Home and Office.

How far the fixed wireless telephony is helpful to consumers?
In a mobile world, there is also specific need for fixed services.  A mobile phone is generally used by one person only. A fixed wireless phone can be used by a group of people – for example in a house, the whole family uses it. And it is the contact number for anyone calling the house. Similarly, in an office or on a work site it is used by many people to receive and make calls – for fast start up of businesses the Emtel Home & Office is ideal. Emtel Home&Office changes the experience for the consumer by giving the fixed phone a mobile intelligence – today through Emtel Home& Office customers can send and receive messages, freely activate their Voice Mail or CLI and enjoy other Emtel services like Caller Tunes or S0S 8505 . The prepaid concept also gives the Emtel Home&Office user a control on his monthly spend that he or she never had before.

Do you think that the 8-digit mobile phone numbers is a positive step? What about our elders? Do you think they will be able to memorise so many numbers?
The 8-digit numbering is good for the consumer in the sense that he/she can identify the destination of his/her call as a prefix will indicate whether it’s a mobile or a fixed. The 8-digit numbering is good for the operators and regulators in the sense that it makes available more numbers for growth.


The elders should not have a problem remembering more digits as the 8th digit will be only a prefix that will indicate the destination being called.
And of course with all the Contact Memories already integrated on mobiles and fixed wireless, remembering numbers should not be a problem.

What are the features and advantages of the new Home and Office fixed wireless phone?
The Home and Office is offered in a box ready to be carried out and used. Customers do no more have to wait for the installation of their fixed table phone or being on a waiting list. They only have to go to one of our shops and carry away their fixed phone ready for use. When at home no need to look for connection as it is cordless and they don’t have to pay a fixed monthly fee; therefore no connection fee, no activation or deposit. Tariffs are simple and competitive with a range of added value services - the free-CLI,(Caller Line Identification),Call in Waiting, the SMS ... The Home and Office is an intelligent terminal 'with Practical features'- equipped with a battery if there is no electricity power, a Memory for contacts and sms and also an integrated FM radio. The fixed wireless phone can be on wall or on a table.

The 4G mobile phones are already in use in Asian Countries. What about Mauritius?
The 4G is a normal evolution of technology from 3G and will also be introduced by Emtel in Mauritius - this will be announced soon. 4G will offer speeds of up to 100MBps on mobile dongles as compared to the 7,2MBps available today.

What is the ranking of Emtel with reference to Africa?
Emtel was the first operation in the southern hemisphere; it  started as a mobile phone company then extended its services to International Calls, then Data processing (when it launched its First 3G in Africa in 2004) and now fixed wireless telephony. Last year Emtel started the Enterprise data business. So today Emtel has the full range of services that customers need.

It has become a One Stop Shop.  In this context Emtel has invested massively in several unique projects such as the Data Centre, the International Submarine fibre optic cable, a national underground fibre optic backbone and the 3G and GSM networks. Emtel has in the past also invested on operations outside Mauritius. It has been one of the founder members of what is today the largest operation in India –Airtel. With the data centre project as well as the submarine cable project Emtel has worldwide connectivity at high bandwidth. And now various customers in Africa are looking at buying data centre services from Emtel. Mauritius being an island and a safe place, customers in less safe countries are looking for Disaster Recovery Centres to be located here.  Emtel Data Centre is the unique opportunity for these companies whether their operations are in Africa or India or even as far away as the USA.