Smartphones running on Firefox OS platforms have begun shipping to Africa.
Following a recent announcement made at the Mobile World Congress, Firefox maker Mozilla and mobile carrier Orange have now declared that the partnership is very much alive, and as part of the continued partnership, will be shipping out Firefox-run phones to Senegal and Madagascar starting this week.
According to Andreas Gal, CTO of Mozilla, this partnership is proof of the expanding mobile phone market and the company's continued support of Web technologies.
"We are pleased to partner with Orange to bring the mobile Web to users in a substantial number of new growth markets across Africa and the Middle East," Gal said. "I'm also thrilled to see how the imminent arrival of Firefox OS has created excitement in the local Mozilla communities."
New mobile phone users in the area can now avail of the Orange Klif and take advantage of its features, including 3G connectivity and the options available to the Firefox OS platform.
In March, Orange and Mozilla announced their partnership to bring the Firefox OS to more people, and expand the mobile carrier's reach to at least 13 markets. To date, the Orange Klif package is available in South Africa and the Middle East. The subscription plan is under $40 and already includes data, voice, and text bundles. To cap it all off, the 3G Firefox OS coverage in the new areas is exclusive to Orange, to be made available to the majority of subscribers in the middle of the year.
Orange's markets include Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Jordan; Kenya, Senegal, Tunisia,; Madagascar, Mali, The Ivory Coast; Niger, Mauritius, and Vanuatu.
The Firefox OS is an open mobile platform that relies heavily on Web technologies rather than proprietary source codes. Mozilla hopes that rather than countering more popular platforms such as Android and iOS, the Firefox OS can contribute in connecting more and more people in areas previously not covered with smartphone technology.
