Zigo partner with Cellcity to launch phone range in Sri Lanka

Shanuka Tissera

Zigo, a United Arab Emirates Company that is well established within the Middle East is partnering up with Cellcity, the very well known and strong mobile solutions provider in Sri Lanka to enter the highly competitive but lucrative mobile market. This move was announced officially at the Hilton on 14 June.

Serendip Ventures FZC CEO – ICT and Mobile Technologies Thusha Weerasooriya explained, “We are planning to get to a third place position in the space of 12 months in the mobile sector in Sri Lanka,” a mountain of a challenge that already has sharks in the water. Just last week, Huawei and Singer partnered up to release their latest range of affordable Smart Phones and Tablet PC’s with intention to gain market share that Zigo and Cellcity want. Final tests and details are currently being undertaken and once this is finalised, Zigo phones will be entering the market within a short period of time.

The breakdown of the mobile market and reasons for entering at this time were explain by Marketing Consultant for Sri Lanka Preethi Kanakaratne, “According to professional cyber based research, by December 2011 there were a staggering 19 million registered phone users in Sri Lanka and this is soon to become 20 million.” With vast knowledge of the Sri Lankan mobile industry, he went on to note that they understand the people’s purchasing power. The latest global trend is Android phones and their cheapest phone, starting from approximately Rs. 2,000 will have a dual-sim feature. The long-term plan for Zigo and Cellcity is to establish themselves within one year in the mobile sector. Upon steady growth they are looking to introduce applications, IT software and possibly home appliances.

Authorised local distributor for Sri Lanka Cellcity Lanka Pvt Ltd. Managing Director Upul Fernando explained their distribution to market plan but emphasised equivalent importance on their after service provision. “With over 60 service canters in Sri Lanka, along with a highly skilled team of workers, we will insure and ensure that quality to our customers is first class. This latest dual-sim Android series will be successful.” For Sri Lanka to be the first nation within the South Asian region to launch 3G, expectations in the mobile sector are high. Deputy Head of Operations for the Middle East expressed Abdulmohsen A.N. Alnajdi his gratitude to Cellcity and the Zigo team and conveyed his confidence for the decision to have Zigos head office here in Sri Lanka.

Zigo and Cellcity want to provide long-term value to their consumers, customers and shareholders. This will echo with their motto ‘shared value for all’.