Emtel Ltd. is a

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company based in Ebene City,

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

. Launched on 29 May 1989 – Emtel Ltd became the first mobile telephony operator in the Southern Hemisphere. This took place under the aegis of The Currimjee Jeewanjee Group. Indian conglomerate

Bharti Enterprises Bharti Enterprises Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across tel ...

acquired a 25% stake in Emtel on 27 April 2015 through its subsidiary, Indian Continent Investment Limited (ICIL). In 1999, Emtel launched its GSM service offerings, three years after its competitor mainly because of exclusive rights allocated to Cellplus Ltd to operate GSM technology in Mauritius. As such, Emtel experienced a significant decline in market share at the end of the 1990s. In August 2017, Emtel won its long going legal case against the ICTA/MT/Cellplus. The Supreme Court of Mauritius ruled exclusive rights to Cellplus as unfair competition and defendants should compensate Emtel Ltd Rs 554,190,000. The company now supplies a range of telecommunication services. In November 2004, Emtel became the first company in Africa to launch 3G/UMTS services. In May 2012, following its 23rd anniversary, Emtel launched 4G TEand became the first fully operational LTE provider in Mauritius. The company now operates

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

GPRS General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), also called 2.5G, is a mobile data standard on the 2G cellular communication network's Global System for Mobile Communications, global system for mobile communications (GSM). Networks and mobile devices wit ...

, 3G/UMTS as well as 3.5G/

HSDPA High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunic ...

, 4G/ TEand

WIMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...

networks. Emtel also offers Internet and international connectivity via undersea Optical fibre and Data Centre Services. In June 2015, Emtel launched the first Fibre Through The Air (FTTA) of the region.

Timeline

* 1989 29 May, Emtel became the first mobile telephony operation in the Southern Hemisphere, as a result of collaboration between the Currimjee Jeewanjee Group and Millicom International Cellular (MIC) S.A.. * 1995 Emtel was one of the founders of Bharti Cellular Ltd with the first Indian GSM network in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

* 1996 Introduction of international roaming in Mauritius * 1998 Emtel was the first company to introduce a prepaid system for its customers * 1999 Emtel introduces new modes of communications with

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

, mobile

email Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

and 6-party conferencing. * 2000 Emtel was the first to introduce the Short Message Service (SMS) * 2002 introduction of SMS-based information provision and the launch of the first mobile

internet portal A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...

in Mauritius bringing interaction between web and cellular phone. * 2003 Emtel service, JukeBox 135 allows the Emtel subscriber to listen and dedicate songs to any other telephone number. The company also launched the roaming facility to its prepaid customers on that same year. * 2004 Emtel brings MMS. During the following months, Emtel launched the first 3G network in Africa which enabled new services like

videotelephony Videotelephony (also known as videoconferencing or video calling) is the use of audio signal, audio and video for simultaneous two-way communication. Today, videotelephony is widespread. There are many terms to refer to videotelephony. ''Vide ...

, and

video surveillance Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal ...

where customers could remotely monitor their house through a

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in Videotelephony, video telephony, live streaming and social media, and Closed-circuit television, security. Webcams can b ...

connected to the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

on their

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

. * 2005 Emtel launches Caller Tunes, which allows customers to personalize their Caller Tone. * 2006 Emtel Networks extends to

Rodrigues Rodrigues ( ; Mauritian Creole, Creole: ) is a Autonomous administrative division, autonomous Outer islands of Mauritius, outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Isl ...

outer-island. Emtel TV is launched comprising 10 television channels * 2007 Emtel launches

technology aimed at providing

wireless data communication Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium ...

over long distances. The company is the first to introduce

(High Speed Downlink Packet Access) on the local market. It offers 3.5G services, which allows networks to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity with mobile access via the Emtel USB Modem ( Huawei E220) with 1.8 Mbit/s maximum downlink speed. * 2008 Emtel launches Gift and Collect SMS, allowing the user to send SMS even when short of mobile credits * 2009 Emtel receives

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

:2008 certification by the

British Standards Institution The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the Standards organization, national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies standards certification services ...

. 29 May – Emtel celebrates its 20th anniversary. On 2 June, Emtel launches its Underground Fibre Optical project at its Boundary Road office. This cable is the first in its kind in Mauritius, and will provide access to high speed Internet services. The first phase of the project is 137 km long. 11 November – Emtel wins the "Changing Lives" AfricaCom Award in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

for having launched its mobile network in

Agaléga Agaléga () is a dependency of Mauritius, as defined by the Constitution of Mauritius, which consists of two outer islands located in the Indian Ocean, about north of Mauritius Island. Similar to other Mauritian islands such as St. Brandon, ...

, giving Agalaéans access to the same services and the same tariffs as in Mauritius and Rodrigues. * 2010 Emtel launches a service, enabling subscribers to use both prepaid and

postpaid The postpaid mobile phone is a mobile phone for which service is provided by a prior arrangement with a mobile network operator. The user in this situation is billed after the fact according to their use of mobile services at the end of each mont ...

while keeping their existing Emtel number as well as their

SIM card A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)A SIM card or SIM (subscriber identity module) is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are u ...

. Emtel later launches m-payment to enable

mobile payment Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cas ...

of Emtel bills via SMS, other services such as

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

bill payment or cinema ticket purchase to be launched. In August, Emtel launches SOS Refill which enables the user to obtain a Rs 5 emergency credit if they have less than Rs3 on their prepaid balance. * 2011 Emtel becomes the first Mauritian operator to launch

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

mobile, with the possibility to post

status update Microblogging is a form of blogging using short posts without titles known as microposts or status updates. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links", which may be the ...

s via SMS; receive updates, likes, etc. * 2012 Emtel launches its

data center A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...

at Arsenal (Mauritius) for contingency. Later on, it launches its

fixed wireless Fixed wireless is the operation of wireless communication devices or systems used to connect two fixed locations (e.g., building to building or tower to building) with a radio or other wireless link, such as laser bridge. Usually, fixed wireless ...

telephony services to home and office users. In May, on its 23rd anniversary, Emtel soft-launches the 4G-LTE service. The service is commercially launched in July 2012 offering service speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s. In September 2012, Emtel is

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

with a new

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

and new slogan: "Emtel – You. First" * 2013 Emtel launched fixed voice and data/Internet services and invested in Data-related projects such as the international submarine fibre optic cable and network modernisation. * 2014 Emtel launches its PRI fixed telephony service for businesses and is also the first mobile network operator in Mauritius to be IPv6 ready. * 2015 Emtel becomes the official triple play partner of Manchester United in Mauritius on 5 February 2015. Later on, Emtel launches the www.1010.mu portal offering the best choice for digital lifestyles: website design in seconds, business class email and automated Cloud backup, enabling customers to access a whole new world of possibilities. On 16 June 2015, Emtel launched "Airbox by Emtel" offering unlimited high speed internet to residential users. * 2016 Emtel launches unlimited Facebook and WhatsApp for prepaid and postpaid customers who have activated a mobile internet pack.

References

{{Authority control Telecommunications companies of Mauritius Companies established in 1989 Privately held companies Companies based in Ebene, Mauritius Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius