AMMAN, 3 April 2008 — The Zain group of Jordan has introduced roaming services on aircraft enabling its customers to make and receive in-flight calls and SMS.
The service was launched on March 30 by Zain in Jordan, part of the Zain group, the leading mobile telecommunications provider in the Middle East and Africa.
Nine more operators within the Zain Group will soon be providing the same services on aircraft; including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.
With the new service, Zain has become a market leader and amongst the first few mobile operators in the world to introduce such services to its customers.
The new technology, installed by AeroMobile, was successfully tried by Zain customers, during the world’s first commercial flight to take place with the new innovative technology.
The voyage took place recently between Dubai and Casablanca on Emirates Airlines.
“We are proud to be the first mobile service provider in Jordan to offer our customers such a differentiated service”, said Zain’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Saad Al-Barrak.
“With mobile phones becoming an important part of people’s everyday lives, we are delighted to offer our customers the choice of using their own mobile phones to contact friends, family or colleagues during flights and therefore making their lives easier”, he said.
“During the initial phase, Zain’s customers in Jordan can now stay connected on board of a number of Emirate flights. The service will be later expanded to include all flights on Emirates as well as other airlines that have partnership with AeroMobile,” added Al-Barrak.
Zain in Jordan’s International Roaming Manager Mervette Al-Shihabi said: “Through our partnership with AeroMobile, the company will further enhance its international mobile roaming services.”