As part of strategic arrangements carried out by MTC Group in line with expansion plans on the Arab and International levels, a new general manager was appointed for Fastlink. The new company head, Saad Nasir, will assume his duties at the beginning of May.
MTC Group CEO Saad Al-Barrak said the move came as part of a reshuffle affecting the company offices in Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Sudan in addition to Jordan, and aims to implement the Group’s expansion strategy and objectives.
During a meeting with Fastlink heads of departments and attended by Haytham Al-Khaled, the Group’s Chief of Operations, Dr. Barrak praised the company’s distinguished performance during the past years and commended the status it enjoys today. He also expressed appreciation of the staff’s efforts, saying their experiences could enrich other companies operating within the Group.
Barrak said MTC has achieved substantial financial results and registered high growth on all indexes during the early months of 2006, with profits expected to reach close to $one billion. The Group has also succeeded in increasing its agents-base by 340% this year, in comparison to 2004. Working agents today exceed 20 million across the Middle East and North Africa Region.
During the past years, the Group expanded its operations to 19 countries in different parts of the world and has become a model and a success story of an Arab company that was able to expand internationally. Relying on a large customer base and a track record of successes, the Group intends to continue its expansion strategy until it reaches its targets and achieves its objectives, according to Barrak, whether through buy offs, acquisitions, new partnerships or new licenses. He pledged to keep on utilizing available opportunities and to increase investors’ dividends.
Fastlink newly appointed General Manager said he was proud to work alongside a distinguished team, and said efforts from now on will be geared towards maintaining the excellent status the company has achieved over the years and further build on its past successes.
Nasir has an extensive experience and vast knowledge of the Telecommunications sector, spanning 25 years. He also has a good knowledge of the Jordanian market, where he worked during the years 1991-1993.
In 1997, Nasir was Assistant General Manager and Regional Director for Saudi Arabia and Jordan at International Turnkey Systems (ITS). Prior to working with ITS, he worked with Westinghouse Security Electronics in Canada and Zed Data Systems as Regional Manager for Quebec and Ontario. Nasser joined MTC in 2004, and held the position of Chief Commercial Officer at MTC Touch, Lebanon, having served as First Advisor to the work team in Kuwait, during which time he took part in the preparation of the second GSM license for Saudi Arabia.
Nasser has an MBA from Bradford University, UK and a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering from Coventry University, also in the UK, 1980. He is married and has three sons and two daughters.
About Fastlink
Jordan Mobile Telephone Services Company Ltd. “Fastlink”, founded in 1995, was the first operator to introduce mobile phone services into Jordan. In just a few years, the company earned its reputation as the most progressive telecom operator in the region in terms of competitiveness and readiness to adopt new technologies and deploy cutting-edge services. Since its inception, Fastlink has tallied subscriber growth at an exponential rate, with the number of users currently exceeding 2 million subscribers. Through more than 1,700 cell sites, Fastlink covers the entire populated area of the Kingdom. In January 2003, Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C. (MTC) acquired Fastlink in what was considered the largest single acquisition in the Middle East area, and the largest private sector investment in Jordan.
MTC Group
Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) is the pioneer of mobile services in the Middle East and now a major player in Africa. We began life in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator, and since the initiation of our “3x3x3” expansion strategy in 2002, we have expanded rapidly.
As a leading mobile and data services operator in five Middle Eastern and 14 sub-Saharan African countries with 6500 employees, we provide a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services to over 14 million individual and business customers.
We operate in Kuwait and Bahrain as mtc-vodafone, in Jordan as Fastlink, in Iraq as mtc atheer, in Lebanon as mtc touch, and in 14 sub-Saharan countries in Africa as Celtel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia and most recently Madagascar.
Listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Code; Tele), MTC’s market capitalization exceeded US$13 billion as of December 31, 2005.
For more visit, www.mtctelecom.com
