Qtel Group shines at Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards 2012

A leading company of the Qtel Group, the world’s fastest-growing telecoms company by revenue over the last five years, was honoured for its pioneering services for women in Indonesia at the glittering Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards 2012 dinner in London on 12 June.

All the awards were for projects that involve at least one operator and at least one vendor, with Nokia and Indosat, part of the Qtel Group, being jointly presented the ‘Emerging Market Service Innovation’ for the “Info Wanita” (Information for Women) service in support of women’s empowerment.

The Global Telecoms Business Awards have been presented annually since 2007, and are considered to be premier awards for the global telecommunications industry. It was an international event attended by senior executives from Brazil, Japan, China, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as the Middle East.

Launched on 1 June 2012, Info Wanita is an innovative consumer service designed for women, intended to empower them in their daily lives. Offering a thrice-weekly SMS service, which is provided free-of-charge to Indosat’s female customers who purchase a bundled package, the service offers SMS content and interesting tips about personal development, health, child care, small business management, financial management, and other life skills.

Deploying the Nokia Life platform, Info Wanita provides easy access to information from the Foundation for Social Change, a social non-profit organisation specialising in education and empowerment of women and girls in developing countries.

The Qtel Group has taken on increased global prominence in recent years, with a presence in 17 countries and a strong focus on the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, contributing to a number of important CSR and educational initiatives for women, students, and young entrepreneurs. In particular, the company is a major supporter of the GSMA mWomen Programme, which aims to reduce the mobile phone gender gap by 50 percent by 2014, enabling mobile phone usage for more than 150 million women in emerging markets.

As well as the ongoing work undertaken in Indonesia, Qtel Group companies in countries like Iraq and Tunisia have also launched a special range of services designed to provide support empowerment opportunities for women.