Airtel Ghana is born

Accra, Nov. 22, GNA - The management of Bharti Airtel, a leading glo= bal telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia an= d Africa, has launched its brand across 16 African countries including Ghan= a. In Ghana, Airtel has replaced Zain as negotiations for the merger wa= s concluded in June this year.

With the unveiling of the new brand identity, Airtel becomes the mas= ter brand for all the group's 19 operations covering over 200 million custome= rs.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, Mr Philip Sowah, Country Manager of Airtel Ghana, said the launch of the Airtel brand woul= d bring together all its operations under a single strong and unique brand identity and also offer its customers high quality products and services. "Our customers will experience the same familiar brand and enjoy consistent quality of service, reliability, innovation and affordability wherever they live, work or travel," he said. He noted that the new brand had come with the promise of meeting the=

needs of customers with innovative, affordable products and services and provide them the opportunity to make calls at affordable rates. Mr Sowah said by operating as a single brand, Airtel would achieve efficiencies and savings through centralised purchasing, and pledged management's commitment to extend its network deeper into communities whi= ch did not have access to Airtel to bridge the digital divide on the contine= nt. He expressed confidence in Airtel's ability to win the hearts of mob= ile users in Ghana and emerge as one of the most admired brands on the continent. Mr Sowah noted that the red colour on the Airtel logo reflected the warmth and vibrancy of the African continent, the colour of life and the sun at dusk. "These qualities are reflected in Airtel's brand personality of bein= g brave, sensitive and empathetic," he said. Mr Sowah was confident that the red primary colour of Airtel could n= ot be confused with any other telecommunication network brand as its credit cards would come in different colours. He noted that Airtel was working hard to capture the second spot on the most used telecommunications company in the country. Mr Sowah announced a bundle of new Nokia 1280 mobile phones; a free SIM card and a free talk time package during the launch. "The package, launched in conjunction with Nokia, will be priced at GH¢40 so that all customers of Airtel can purchase them," he added. Mr Sowah said for the past four months, management of Airtel had mad= e tariff interventions in 11 out of 16 markets in Africa for the benefit of=

its customer. He assured customers of the continuation of products and services as=

the '888' campaign which offered low tariffs to customers and the Zap services, a mobile money transfer service. Mr Sowah noted that Airtel's partnership with the international ICT company, ABM, would boost the growth of Airtel as well as create jobs, skills training, and technological transfer which would develop Ghana int= o a world class off-shore destination for international businesses. He pledged Airtel's commitment in continuing with the social responsibilities started by the management of Zain, and better internet services as Aitel Ghana had linked its internet services to Airtel cables=

and network in the United Kingdom for quality internet delivery. Mr Andre Beyers, Chief Marketing Officer, Airtel Group, urged Ghanai= ans to embrace Airtel as it would seek to offer them reliable services and products. Mr Oare Ojeikere, Marketing Director, Airtel Ghana, announced Airtel= 's intention to embark on a vigorous campaign on the use of electronic vouch= ers to reduce environmental pollution as some of the emissions from scratch cards were not good for the environment.