3Com re-enters Indian Ocean Islands market as part of regional expansion in Africa

Leading global networking company 3Com has appointed NetEra in Mauritius as its distributor for the Indian Ocean Islands, as it expands its Africa footprint from its regional head office in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"After an absence of 10 years, 3Com is keen to re-establish its presence in the Indian Ocean Islands' growing economy, with its sound information technology infrastructure," says Tracy Lawler, 3Com channel manager for Africa. "Our re-entry into the market is based on our strong networking product line, which offers price / performance benefits to the private and public sectors alike."

NetEra.Com Ltd is a fast-growing independent distributor, operating throughout the Indian Ocean Islands region - Mauritius, Seychelles, Comores, Reunion islands and Madagascar.

"We offer leading-edge technologies to our customers, delivering affordable, easy-to-use solutions for the enterprise, corporate and small-medium-business markets through our experienced reseller network," says NetEra MD Patrick Desmarais. "We are delighted to have the opportunity of representing 3Com and being able to offer its range of networking products to customers in the Indian Ocean Islands region.

"This will help us to deliver the best, and most appropriate, solutions to our customers, at an attractive price point. We are committed to growing our business relationship with 3Com to the benefit of our mutual success."

Lawler believes that, working with a strong distributor such as NetEra and its business partners, will enable 3Com to re-establish its brand, and offer the market a degree of choice that it has not had for some time.

"There is an opportunity for 3Com, based not only on quality and price / performance," says Lawler. "When I initially visited Mauritius to start engaging with NetEra, the response to news of 3Com's return to the region was enthusiastically and positively received by customers in both the private and public sectors. We met companies that are still using serviceable 3Com switches - and that's after 10 years of installation and no upgrades! 3Com's reputation for reliability is legion, as is the fact that its technology is based on open standards, so there is no need to 'forklift upgrade' legacy equipment.

"We welcome NetEra on board. They are very enthusiastic, focused and determined, and have demonstrated that they understand - and can support - what we are trying to achieve.

"Our commitment to this region is strong, as evidenced by our decision to place a highly qualified systems engineer in Mauritius to support NetEra, business partners and customers. We have also committed to 3Com training and marketing initiatives.

"Already, we have seen a return on investment with our first network infrastructure project, and, of course, we have our SMB products available, such as the Baseline and OfficeConnect range, as well as our wireless products.

"This development is part of 3Com's Africa strategy and marks the beginning of our expansion beyond South Africa and into the sub-continent."