We’re delighted to congratulate Asiacell, Iraq’s second largest operator, which this week won the Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets for its Almas Line product conceived for, and sold exclusively to, Iraqi women.

In 2011, women made up only 20% of Iraqi operator’s subscriber base. Asiacell conducted consumer insights research to understand the needs of women in its market and launched the Almas Line of products. The features of this offeringmatch the needs of Iraqi women for mobile technology and included “step charging,” which offers a 50% discount after the third minute; freedom for women to choose their own off-peak hours; discounted rates for off-network calls and a free “bye-bye” service that blocks potential harassers from calling or texting.

Since the launch of the product in April 2011, the proportion of Asiacell’s female customers has grown to close to 40% and about 1.8 million women in Iraq have been connected to friends and family, and are becoming more socially and financially independent, thanks to their access to mobile technology.

The judges remarked that Asiacell’s Almas Line offering demonstrated a “very smart, well thought-out approach, with measurable, large-scale impact directly to women. The idea of marketing the SIM as a premier line is brilliant. It appeals to deep traditional values, aspirational but not elitist.”