Ooredoo, the leading telecom operator in Qatar, and its partners won four major accolades at the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards held recently in London.

Indosat won the “Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation Award” for connecting underserved rural communities, and the “Consumer Service Innovation Award” for its mobile service Usaha Wanita, which empowers women entrepreneurs.

Tunisiana, also part of Ooredoo, won the “Consumer Service Innovation Award” for its Najja7ni Employment service, which enhances employment prospects for Tunisian youth, and the “Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation Award” on the rollout of the IP backhaul network and 3G network.

Dr Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “We believe that these awards demonstrate the power of partnering with local and global organisations to deliver scalable mobile services. Our customers can look forward to more life-enhancing mobile innovations in the coming months.”

“For the Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation Award, Indosat and network solutions provider Altobridge overcame the barriers of cost, backhaul and power to deploy lightweight and solar-powered base sites as an in-house “rural solution to a rural problem.”

As a result, Indosat has commercially delivered mobile connectivity to rural Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua Island, and plans to use the solution to connect more customers throughout remote areas of Indonesia.

For the Consumer Service Innovation Award, Indosat was also the first operator in the world to offer Usaha Wanita (Business Women), and more than 8,000 women entrepreneurs in Indonesia have signed up to the service since its launch in December 2012. Usaha Wanita offers tips about business management, banking and credit access, customer management and marketing for small businesses.

Usaha Wanita was developed in partnership with Indosat, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, the ExxonMobil Foundation and Nokia Life. Usaha Wanita is also being used by Mercy Corps to give hands-on training to 2,000 women entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, said: “I am delighted that this service has been recognised and we hope to continue to take it further. Supporting women entrepreneurs is one of the most important investments we can make and technology is one of the tools that can help us do that on a global scale."

Tunisiana’s Najja7ni Employment service has seen 300,000 Tunisiana customers select the service.

Developed in partnership with educational social network Edupartage and youth-focused social initiative Silatech, Najja7ni Employment provides youth with career guidance, financial literacy, career search strategies, links to local training opportunities and tips on how to start a business.

Najja7ni Employment uses an innovative and engaging method for customers to learn these topics, including quizzes, SMS alerts, coaching and psychometric tests, delivered via mobile phone. Currently the service is available in French, and will soon be available in Arabic and English to reach more customers.

For the Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation Award, Tunisiana and network solutions company Infovista have rolled-out 3G to cover a majority of Tunisia’s population, providing the country’s leading network with the best end-to-end customer experience. Tunisiana plans to cover nearly the whole population with 3G by the end of 2013. – TradeArabia News Service