LONDON -- Airtel, one of the world’s largest mobile services providers, has entered into a group-wide framework agreement with Movirtu, an innovator in Virtual SIM solutions. The group-wide agreement follows Airtel’s successful launch of the Movirtu Share service in Madagascar. The first deployment under the new contract is now live in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Airtel plans to replicate its success in Madagascar by launching a pre-paid service in its other subsidiaries across Africa. The DRC deployment went live on 12 May 2014 and two other deployments are already under way. Airtel has a total of 17 subsidiaries across Africa with a total of 81.5m subscribers.

Movirtu’s patented Virtual SIM platform allows mobile operators to provide services to users who cannot afford to purchase a personal handset while also allowing subscribers to keep multiple numbers on same handset. With a Virtual SIM linked to their own personal mobile number, users can temporarily activate the Virtual SIM on a friend’s handset or shared village phone to make voice calls, send text messages or access value added and informative services such as mobile banking and mFarmer.

Movirtu Share is also targeted at business users, allowing them to attach a second mobile number to their existing mobile account. With this service, business users can separate their private and business calls without needing to buy an additional handset or a second physical SIM card.

Movirtu Ltd.