(AIRTEL SEYCHELLES) - Telecommunications company Airtel Seychelles has commemorated its 20 years of existence in the country with the unveiling of its state-of-the-art network modernisation technology and the launch of I-DEAL, its new post-paid plans.

These were revealed during a ceremony held at its headquarters in Providence yesterday to celebrate Airtel’s 20years since joining the local telecom industry in Seychelles in 1998, becoming the second such service provider in the country.

Yesterday’s auspicious ceremony was attended by Vice-President Vincent Meriton; Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque; Minister for Education and Human Resource Development Joel Morgan; principal secretary for information communications technology Benjamin Choppy; principal secretary for immigration and civil status Alain Volcere; leader of government business in the National Assembly Charles Decommarmond as well as members of the diplomatic corps, Airtel staff and other invitees.

Amadou Dina, Airtel’s managing director, started off the ceremony by providing an overview of Airtel’s journey in Seychelles from being the first company to launch prepaid mobile services in 1999 to the gradual upgrading of its network to 3G and 4G over the years.

Mr Dina described the celebrations as a “major milestone for Seychelles and Airtel” which encapsulates Airtel’s endeavours in helping to bring the telecom revolution to the shores of Seychelles.

He further expressed his gratitude towards the government and industry regulators for their support as well as to Airtel staff and customers.

In a bid to continue to ensure consistent customer experience, Airtel unveiled its U900 technology which provides “outstanding network performance” in the areas of 4.5G voice fall back, mobile broadband coverage and data service experience.

The U900 has already been deployed since October 2017 and, along with various other network upgrades, has resulted into an investment of around US $10 million.

I-DEAL, a new post paid plan, was also launched yesterday and will be made available to customers in their showroom as of today. Commercial director Heritiana Randrianarison affirmed that the new I-DEAL post-paid plans provides lower talk, text and data rates than the previous plans.

Vice-President Meriton and Mr Dina also unveiled the 20th anniversary logo which is going to be used throughout the celebration period.

The logo illustrates the Seychelles flag which represents the partnership between Airtel and the government and is captioned by the celebration’s theme of ‘Touching Lives’.

“‘Touching Lives’ is the theme of this celebration since Airtel has committed from the first day of arriving in Seychelles, to connect and empower people not only by bringing the latest new technology but also touching lives in the community,” explained Mr Dina.

Channel partners, customers and employees who have helped Airtel write their 20-year story were also recognised during the ceremony.