e& international and Circles create a joint venture to provide digital telco experiences

e& international today announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Circles, a global technology company, to bring best-in-class digital experiences to customers across its operating markets and beyond.

e& International, part of e&, that is responsible for growing the international portfolio of world-class modern digital telcos, has formed a joint venture with Circles to empower its network of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and other operators based in the region to launch digital telco brands that deliver delightful digital experiences for the digitally savvy generation. 

Circles is a global technology company that’s reimagining the telco industry with its SaaS platform, Circles X, and helping operators launch and operate successful digital brands. Having pioneered a successful blueprint for disrupting the telco space in Singapore, Circles has since launched its own digital telco, Circles.Life, in partnership with M1 in Singapore, Chunghwa in Taiwan and Optus in Australia. Circles has also partnered with other national MNOs such as XL Axiata in Indonesia to launch Live.On and KDDI Corporation in Japan to launch POVO 2, enabling them to accelerate growth and capture market share within a short period of time. 

The agreement will enhance e& international’s position as a pioneer in bringing broad-spectrum technologies to the region, as it will benefit from Circles’ digital expertise and global operations across 13 Asia Pacific and bring the best in digital solutions to e&’s footprint across 16 markets and beyond. It will also leverage Circles’ cloud-native, digital SaaS platform called Circles X, which allows MNOs to deploy digital telco brands from anywhere in the world and unlocks an agile digital-first revenue growth engine, at a fraction of the operating cost by a traditional telco. Built for operators by an operator, Circles X empowers MNOs to drive seamless and personalized digital experiences, thus achieving a net-promoter-score (NPS) that is higher than industry standards. 

This partnership is in line with e&’s transformation journey into a global technology group as announced last year, which is backed by its ambitious strategy to accelerate growth through its specialist business verticals. It provides e& with the world-class digital capabilities to grow the telco business as well as adjacent digital businesses with cutting edge customer experience. 

Mikhail Gerchuk, CEO, e& international said: “As the world becomes increasingly digital, it’s more important than ever for telcos to innovate and deliver next-generation services to meet the demands of digital native subscribers. At e&, we have doubled down on our efforts to surpass customer expectations by ensuring we make our services accessible anywhere, at any time, and from any device. To make this possible, we have worked tirelessly on enhancing the digital journey of our customers. Through our transformation from a reputed telco giant to a global technology and investment group, we are confident that we will continue to enhance our customers’ digital journey according to their needs. Our partnership with Circles is solid proof of our commitment to heralding a new digital era, one that is filled with limitless possibilities where we can collaborate and accomplish more for a brighter, digital future.”

“We are delighted to embark on this journey with a partner like e&, who shares our common vision of an empowered digital future. Our Circles X technology demonstrates our continuous commitment to help the MNOs connect with the digitally savvy generation and deliver the delightful digital experiences that they want and need. Our operator and digital expertise from powering successful digital telcos allows us to transfer our knowledge and experience to our partnership with e&. We look forward to deepening our partnership with e& to accelerate digital transformation across their markets,” said Rameez Ansar, CEO & Co-Founder of Circles     .

John McEvoy is appointed as the CEO of the joint venture. He said: “Our joint venture will enable us to leverage their expertise in digital technologies and our own strengths in telecom to deliver cutting-edge solutions to meet the evolving needs of the global mobile operator community. Together, we will create new opportunities for growth and success, while providing unique propositions to support these operators in launching independent digital brands and benefiting from distinctive commercial models. The objective is to provide unparalleled value to MNOs especially with the rise of digital native subscribers making it critical for them to adapt and innovate, while also driving growth and profitability.”