Telecom & ITC
News Analysis: Middle East offers huge potential for mobile operators
The chief incentive for the 30-plus mobile phone operators doing business in the Middle East is the market’s low mobile phone penetration. At only 34 percent it offers considerable growth potential and is making the region a magnet for new technologies and services such as Zain’s pan-regional mobile network.
Kuwait's Zain eyes US$1bn stake in Arab operator
Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) said it was in talks to buy a stake in an Arab telecom provider for about US$1 billion. Zain, the third-largest Arab telecom operator by market value, is looking to buy as much as 50 percent of the target company, said CEO Saad al-Barrak.
Mashreq Bank syndicate finances Omantel US$205m World Call deal
Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), the Sultanate’s leading telecom operator, has selected UAE based Mashreq Bank led syndicate to finance its US$205m acquisition of the Pakistani World Call Telecom Company.
Zain Saudi Arabia awards Motorola US$335m 2G/3G network contract
Turnkey agreement includes high-speed mobile data solutions and managed services to support Saudi Arabia's third operator launch. Motorola, Inc. announced that it has signed a US$335m turnkey contract to deploy and manage a 2G/3G mobile communications network for Zain in Saudi Arabia, the recent addition to the Zain group, a long standing Motorola customer.
Under the terms of the contract, Motorola will supply its GSM/HSxPA network solutions as well as comprehensive managed services for network design, integration, deployment, operations and maintenance. This contract brings Zain's technology preparations and infrastructure requirements another step closer to the planned launch of services in the first half of this year.
Egypt to launch 1st air navigation, communication satellite in 2011
The first Egyptian satellite for air navigation and communication will be launched in 2011 at costs reaching US$500m funded by a group of investors. NAVISAT satellite will offer precise data for the increasing navigation movement.
News Analysis: Saudi IT sector set to boom
Saudi Arabia is driving IT adoption in the region by becoming a magnet for global IT players like HP, Cisco, Acer, LG, Samsung and Toshiba. Government initiatives for education and home computing are now set to accelerate growth in the Kingdom’s computing sector at an even rapider rate.
AT&T, Energy City Qatar, Qtel, and NavLink sign agreement to develop advanced networking services
AT&T Inc. announced that an AT&T subsidiary, in association with Qtel and NavLink, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Energy City Qatar (ECQ) to jointly develop and deliver advanced data communications services and solutions to the "first-of-its kind" landmark business centre in the Middle East. This will be the region's first integrated business and residential hub for the hydrocarbon industry.
News Analysis: Qatari telecoms market opens to competition
Vodafone Group last month beat off international rivals, AT&T and Verizon, along with regional challengers, Etisalat and Zain, to win Qatar’s second mobile phone licence, ending the last Arab telecom monopoly and providing much needed competition to mobile and fixed-line incumbent, Qtel.
ictQatar, the country’s telecom regulator, refused to disclose how much Vodafone’s group, which includes the Qatar Foundation, paid for the licence but confirmed the new entrant would kick-off operations later this year.
US$160m Iranian loan to build land communications network in Iraq
Iran has given the sum of US$160m as a loan to the Iraqi Ministry of Communications in order to build land networks in the central and southern parts of Iraq.
News Analysis: Fixed-line auction to spur new services
On June 19, Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) will auction a licence for a second fixed-line phone operator, putting an end to Telecom Egypt’s 90-year monopoly. Yet analysts do not expect the auction to shake-up the nearly saturated market for standard voice calling.
More significant will be the rights bundled with the licence to offer advanced data services -- now seen as vital for preserving telecom revenue growth after market saturation.
Mid East telecom and internet to ring in sales of US$70 billion
The Arabian Gulf ICT market is one of the fastest growing in the world with the Middle East telecommunications and broadband Internet sectors expected to generate US$70 billion in annual sales revenue by 2015.
News Analysis: Cut cables spur network improvements
The submarine cable cuts that hobbled Egypt’s telecommunications in January and February have raised the pressure on firms to speed up projects to increase the capacity and resilience of cable networks running under the Mediterranean.
The cuts also underscore Egypt’s role as a vital telecommunications hub for the Gulf and South Asia.