Movitel, a joint venture between Vietnam’s military-run telecom service provider Viettel and Mozambique’s SPI and Invespar companies, has been named the leader in terms of competitive strength in mobile information.

The award was presented by market analyst Frost and Sullivan in Cape Town , South Africa , on August 15.

Frost and Sullivan experts said that Movitel is wise when paying attention to low-income earners in Mozambique through a strategy on popularising telecommunications services. It has expanded its network to bring services to all people through such programmes as providing free internet connection for schools, or reducing fees for phone and internet users.

During more than one year since its establishment in Mozambique , Movitel has attracted up to 80 percent of new mobile subscribers in the country, creating jobs for over 20,000 people in rural areas.

Millions of teachers and students have benefited from the free internet programme for 4,200 schools and universities nationwide.

Talking with the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in South Africa , Movitel Chairperson Safura da Conceicao said the award marks Movitel’s great contributions to achievements of the telecommunications sector of Mozambique and Africa as a whole.

Last year, Movitel was also honoured for having the best solution to help improve telecommunications in African rural areas by Africacom organisation.