Wataniya brings mobile connectivity to Maldives

It used to be that you would turn off your mobile phone as soon as you boarded the plane to majority of the islands in the Maldives.

Visitors could rest assured that, even were Rome in an incendiary blaze, Caesar would not be out of touch or at least not by mobile phone.

GSM services simply did not get that far.

All this changed on August 1, thanks to Wataniya International, the Kuwaiti owned firm, who announced the public launch of Wataniya Telecom Maldives.

Wataniya International's network has launched with about 7,000 pre-booked subscribers able to enjoy a range of services that include multimedia messaging, push to talk, high-speed mobile internet access and international roaming from day one.

"We're bringing a new range of services to the Maldives, underpinned by a reliable and world class network," said the chairman of Wataniya Telecom Maldives, Salah Al Sultan.

"Now visitors and citizens alike have access to some of the world's most advanced mobile communications capabilities for the first time, including a 3G capable network in the capital, Male," Al Sultan said.

Wataniya Telecom Maldives chief executive officer, Mark Hanna said: "It's important to offer world class communications to the Maldives, not only to benefit citizens but to underpin the country's tourism industry which is so important to the Maldives.

"Now visitors from Europe, the Middle East and Asia can enjoy the high quality communications services they have become used to expecting from their home countries while they are in the Maldives."

The launch follows the award of a mobile network license to Wataniya International in February, and the initial network build out has seen Wat-aniya International investing more than $40 million in building a new national mobile network in the country.