Oslo, Norway – August 27, 2008
Opera Software today announced that Opera Mini is going to Africa. Opera Software has partnered with MTN, the leading telecommunications company in Uganda, to bring the mobile Web to the company’s nearly three million subscribers. By expanding into Africa, Opera is strengthening its strategy to make the Web available to more people, on any device, from anywhere in the world.
“Africa has tremendous growth potential in Web browsing and MTN is a major communications company focused on the African continent,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “We believe that everyone should have access to the full Web no matter the location or the device. MTN and Opera Software share the vision of ushering in a new era in connectivity across the African continent.”
Opera Mini is built on Opera’s industry leading browser technology and is the world’s most popular mobile Web browser. According to Opera’s latest “State of the Mobile Web” report, 15.8 million people actively used Opera Mini in July 2008, with 233 pages browsed on average.
People in Uganda have already discovered the power of Opera Mini to view the full Web on their mobile phones. Consumers desire a rich Web experience regardless of the device they use. With all of the top ten sites being non-WAP oriented, it is clear that WAP will continue to diminish as more capable Web browsers are able to display full Web content on mobile phones.
Top ten sites on the mobile Web in Uganda based on unique users, July 2008:
- www.google.com
- www.yahoo.com
- www.facebook.com
- en.wikipedia.org
- news.bbc.co.uk
- mail.google.com
- www.newvision.co.ug
- www.bbc.co.uk
- www.cnn.com
- www.monitor.co.ug
“MTN has been at the forefront of bringing our customers the most innovative and efficient ways of having the world at their fingertips. With this latest addition to MTN’s solutions portfolio, we are confident that customers will find web browsing a much easier and more pleasurable experience.” said Noel Meier, MTN’s CEO. He added, “Partnering with Opera Software will enable MTN to provide this experience to our customers therefore re-affirming our commitment to being a total telecommunications solutions provider in Uganda.”
About the MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN”. As at 31 March 2008, MTN recorded 68,2 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d”Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africaâ„¢ and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East. Visit us at www.mtn.com and www.mtnfootball.com.
About Opera Mini
Opera Mini brings the full Web experience to mobile phones. People can enjoy instant access to Web sites anywhere, anytime. Users of Opera Mini will benefit from a desktop-like browsing experience that displays Web pages as they are meant to be seen. In addition, Opera Mini utilizes Opera’s compression technology to pre-process Web pages by up to 90 percent before sending them to phones, resulting in faster page downloads without compromising end-user experience. As a result, download costs are kept to a minimum.