Etisalat crowns With three Prestigious GSMA Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona

Mobilk - Etisalat has won three of the telecommunications industry’s most prestigious international awards bagging two GSMA Global Mobile Awards in the ‘Best Mobile Health Innovation’ and ‘mWomen Best Mobile Product’ categories for its mobile health innovation – Etisalat Mobile Baby – that is helping to combat maternal mortality in developing countries, and also winning the ‘Best Mobile Money Innovation’ award for its Etisalat Commerce commercial platform enabling customers to use the mobile phone as a payment instrument anywhere , anytime. 

 

Etisalat’s Mobile Baby program delivers affordable primary healthcare solutions to even the remotest regions of Africa and it has already demonstrated tangible results to meet Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG5) which seeks to reduce maternal mortality in childbirth by 75 percent and deliver universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

 

Developed in partnership with Qualcomm, D-Tree International and Great Connection, Etisalat Mobile Baby is a complete mHealth ecosystem that brings together medical healthcare professionals, NGOs, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, and federal and state government to deliver affordable healthcare for all powered by mobile connectivity.  

 

In Tanzania in the regions where Etisalat first launched the service, there has been a substantial drop in baseline maternal mortality rates and 30 percent increase in in-medical facility delivery rate. During 2012 the Etisalat Mobile Baby service will be rolled our across its operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Niger, Central African Republic and Gabon.

 

The award for ‘Best Mobile Health Innovation’ aims to highlight the rapidly emerging area of mobile connectivity in healthcare, an area which has the potential to address one of the biggest challenges faced globally; how to make high-quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all while utilising the benefits of mobile technology for innovative diagnoses, treatment and health service operations and logistics. 

The Etisalat Commerce initiative won the ‘Best Mobile Money Innovation’ for its transformational way of implementation of payments instruments seamlessly integrated with mobile phone technology. Developed in partnership with MasterCard Worldwide and Oberthur Technologies, the innovation transforms mobile phones into the virtual payment cards accepted in MasterCard merchants.

 

To accommodate market requirements and regulatory regime, the mix of services offered varies between countries and includes salary payments, Person to Person domestic and International funds transfer, utility and merchant payments, on-line purchases, cash-collection, bank transactions, paired physical cards and m-ticketing targeting un-banked, under-banked and fully-banked customers.

 

Accepting the awards, Essa Al Haddad, Etisalat Group chief commercial officer, said:  “Etisalat is committed to harnessing the power of mobile connectivity through innovation to develop products that change people’s lives for the better.  

 

“Etisalat’s commitment is to provide the necessary technologies to enable people to take charge of their futures which will lead to accelerated social and economic development.  In the case of Etisalat Mobile Baby it can also save lives and narrow the gender gap.

 

“Our focus on mHealth and mCommerce solutions has had an immediate impact in emerging markets where access to healthcare and banking services are limited.  These accolades are further endorsement of our focus on delivering innovative technologies that have a transformative effect.”

 

Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA said “The 2012 Global Mobile Awards continue to showcase the greatest, most creative and innovative products and services driving the mobile ecosystem today and into the future. With a record number of high calibre entries this year, it is a significant achievement to have been honoured in today’s ceremony “The GSMA congratulates winners and commends all those taking part for raising the benchmark of contributions to mobile communications across the entire industry. 

Please also find a link below which will bring you to the full winners listing and to where you can view the judges’ comments on your winning entry.