African Wireless (Project Completed)

The opportunities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and The Gambia and dozens of other counties on the continent go far beyond the revenue and traffic from traditional voice telephone calls. There is an opportunity to make reasonable investment returns while delivering enhanced services that have historically been a privilege of foreign mining and petroleum executives, government officials, and the very well to do.

Formed in 1990, African Wireless, Inc. was a closely held Delaware Corporation focused on the development of wireless telephone and Internet franchises in Africa. African Wireless owned the controlling interest in U.S. GMS cellular license in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our system Wireless operated on a Nortel GMS platform and had installed seven new towers in Kinshasa that greatly expanded the service area and increased our customer base.

The African Cellular Renaissance moved a step forward during December 2001 by the acquiring of African Wireless by Vodacom and then the launching of Vodacom Congo (DRC). This followed the ratification of a joint venture agreement between Congolese Wireless Networks (CWN) and Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Ltd by the Vodacom Group (Pty) Ltd board.

Vodafone Group plc (Vodafone) is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company and the seventh largest company in the world. It is headquartered in Newbury in the United Kingdom and has interests in mobile telephone networks in 29 countries across five continents.

Despite civil war and logistical problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vodacom took just three months to set up and launch its new cellular operator there. Vodacom's 88 base stations, which include generators for each because of the often-inconsistent electricity supply, service the country's three major centers - capital Kinshasa, second city Lubumbashi and the diamond mining area of Mbuji Mayi. Calls between the three - which are 900km apart - are routed via satellite.

Vodacom Congo has already captured over 50 000 subscribers in three weeks of operation. These subscribers are expected to spend an average of $25 to $30 per month, compared to $8 to $9 in SA.