iTouch South Africa is expanding its operations into Africa, with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria.
The wireless applications service provider (WASP) says the new office will house sales, customer support, marketing and engineering staff.
According to COO Wayne Levine, iTouch Nigeria is 100% owned by iTouch SA, although it will be treated as a separate business and will have a local MD and staff.
He says iTouch Nigeria will initially provide phone personalisation services such as ringtones and logos, SMS-based information services such as news and sports, as well as competitions using SMS and voice response.
Levine notes that Nigeria was chosen for the expansion as it has a population of 120 million people and high mobile penetration levels.
He also points out that MTN is doing well in Nigeria, showing there are opportunities for WASPs within the mobile market in that country.
Levine says the development of the Nigerian wireless applications market is where SA was four years ago. The insight gained from the company`s experience in the South African market will give the company the ability to predict how events will unfold in that country, he says.
Levine says iTouch Nigeria already has agreements with all four of the national mobile network operators. It also has content partnerships with the four main broadcasters in the country, he says.
According to Levine, iTouch SA is investing substantially in infrastructure in Nigeria to ensure networks can cope with the increased flow of data traffic. Customer support structures have also been put in place, he adds.
Levine says iTouch SA is looking at opportunities to expand into other African countries.
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