Mondial Telecom, which in 2009 launched Cherry, the first fully converged WiFi and GSM mobile operator, has announced that it has raised further funds of over €5.5m. The company will focus on the growth of its Cherry mobile brand as well as launch into the international wholesale market where several operators are said to have shown significant interest in its Mobile-to-Mobile Convergence (MMC) solutions. The new investors include SRIW (Société d’Investissement de la Région Wallonne), Philippe Bodson (formerly of Tractebel/Suez), as well as recognised institutional investors.
The funding was organised by the corporate financing boutique Semcap. Mondial Telecom says its target is to quadruple its turnover within three years and double the total number of staff on its payroll.
The funds will enable Mondial Telecom to address an ever-increasing market for Smartphone devices and to invest in infrastructure and staff. New product and service development will focus on its MMC services to bring new capabilities to Cherry. The company says that hiring has begun to meet the expected requirements of these new developments.
Chairman of the Board José Zurstrassen sees this development mainly as “an opportunity to implement the company’s international vision, the foundation of which is the “Wholesale” range. This should enable Mondial Telecom to break even within a relatively short time, while opening up the world a little further to this innovative technology.”
The management team has been substantially increased in both the Retail (headed by Gaetan Jamar, formerly of Mobistar) and Wholesale (under Mark Collins, formerly of Muzicall, Equador) departments. The development team has been consolidated to boost development based on other platforms (Iphoneã, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile 7.0), and continues to increase under the management of Davy Van de Moere. The product management department is also being organised under the supervision of Joeri Uyttendaele.
Bernard de Burlin, founder and CEO, said “The secret of the success of the latest of our Mondial Telecom products – Cherry, Version 2.0 of which will be placed on the retail market by September, and will shortly be available on a wholesale basis – is that it is part of a fundamental trend in telecommunications. On the one hand, the use of Smartphones and Iphones is booming and a number of mobile-telephony operators (more specifically their networks) were not prepared for the subsequent bandwidth volume consumption. Also, Wi-Fi coverage is being improved by ever-increasing numbers of corporate, private and public hotspots. Finally, it seems that landline, cable and Internet operators are interested in supplying their users with unlimited mobility or maximising the use of their networks. More than ever, network complementarity is the key. With its Cherry solution, Mondial Telecom is able to meet all three of these demands without variable operating costs – which at this point in time other solutions simply cannot do.”
The company will be opening a new office in Wallonia in the near future to house its Wholesale department and enable it to expand.