Telecoms & ITC

Bahrain to build $1bn mixed-use hi-tech city

Bahrain is to build a business, technology, retail and leisure city at a cost of $1 billion, according to Talal Alzain, the chief executive officer of Mumtalakat Holding Company, the governments investment arm. Called @bahrain, the city is scheduled to be built during the first quarter of next year and will be situated alongside the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir. The development will feature a 10,000 retractable seating arena, 75,000-sq-m exhibition centre, 25,000-sq-m convention centre, interactive technology centre, research institute, technology park as well as three-, four- and five-star hotels.

Omantel sees renting network space as "win-win"

Omantel CEO Amer Al Rawas said that the two mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that had been working off its network for the past year had targeted specific segments of the market and has not impacted on its own market share. "The situation has not diverted from the expectation that we had. It was not done by choice but managed in a way that was a win-win, and so far I believe both parties are winning," Al Rawas said. Al Rawas comments are the first on the situation that saw Omantel ordered by the Gulf state's telecoms regulator in July 2008 to allow Majan Telecommunications and Dubai-based Friendi Mobile to rent network space, in a bid to expand services across the country.

du launches national 800 toll-free service for businesses with the power of per second billing

In a move to enable the UAE’s businesses to better serve their customers, du, the UAE’s integrated telecom services provider launched its national 800 service with per second billing. Businesses can select a phoneword that most closely matches their business activity and use it as a customer number The choice of the name means that it is a much easy-to-remember prompt for customers, and removes the need to memorise a certain number; as well as providing increased visibility to the brand by making the name easily recognisable and distinguishable over that of competitors.

Bahrain Broadband wins GSM 1800 licence

Bahrain Broadband is the successful bidder for the GSM 1800 Guard Band Frequency Licence with a bid of BD50,000 which if combined with combined with their investment in trialling the technology, licence application fees and network investment, this makes an initial commitment for the first phase of development of the service in the order of BD2.4 million.

Zain enters into agreement to merge Jordan operation with Palestinian operator Paltel

Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC ("Zain") and Palestinian telecommunications Company Plc ("Paltel") have entered into an agreement for a share-for-share exchange, which will see Zain take a majority interest in Paltel with an equity shareholding of 56.53% in exchange for Paltel owning 100% of Zain Jordan. Paltel is a publicly-listed entity on the Palestinian Stock Exchange and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The merger will set the current Paltel shareholders equity position in both Paltel and its newly acquired subsidiary, Zain Jordan at 41.43%.

Gulf Bridge International appoints BT as principal consultant

Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the region's first privately owned submarine cable operator, has appointed BT as the principal consultant on the implementation of its USD $445 million + cable linking the six Gulf countries to each other as well international. As part of its remit, BT will engage its center of excellence, BT subsea, for knowledge and skills transfer to GBI as it delivers a high-capacity fiber optic undersea telecommunications cable system aimed at improving connectivity for Gulf states, both regionally and internationally. BT will be working to ensure that the new GBI subsea cable has the correct level of quality control for information transfer around the region and beyond, as well as providing operational risk management, optimizing project performance and identifying skilled staff to manage the new undersea infrastructure.

Telecom Egypt Q1 profit up 72 pct, beats forecasts

Telecom Egypt reported a 72 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to 962.4 million Egyptian pounds ($171.3 million), comfortably beating expectations. Forecasts for Egypt's fixed-line monopoly had earlier estimated net income for the period between 613 million and 762 million pounds. The company has previously said it had been hit by a slowdown in the broader economy caused by the global financial crisis. The firm has also said it faced competition from mobile firms as customers turn to mobiles instead of fixed-line phones.

Batelco raises stake in S Tel to 49% in $225m deal

Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said that Batelco had completed formalities to finalise the acquisition of a 49 per cent shareholding in S Tel Limited (S Tel) for $225 million (Dh827.55 million). Batelco's Group CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos said that the investment in S Tel will provide significant growth opportunities for Batelco in the expanding Indian market, the third largest and fastest growing mobile market in the world, where mobile penetration is currently growing at more than 11 million subscribers a month.

Etisalat loses Iran licence

Etisalat is no longer the top bidder for Iran's third mobile operating licence, the company said in a statement. An etisalat consortium consisting of Iranian Tamim Telecom, a company owned by Social Security Organisation (SSO) in Iran will potentially lose the licence to Zain, Kuwait Telecommunications Co.

Renna launches innovative mobile services in the Sultanate

Renna has entered the market as Omans newest Mobile Reseller, leading the path for the Sultanates burgeoning telecommunications arena and setting new industry benchmarks. The Renna packages comprise two innovative price plans with no monthly or hidden fees: Renna 6-6 is a classic peak/off-peak price plan that provides customers with an extra low tariff of 38bz from 6pm which is very popular among those who make most calls during the evenings Renna 24/7 is a 'flat rate' price plan that offers the same low price day and night, and is designed to suit customers who make most calls during the day.

ictQatar launched 2nd round of public consultation on licensing framework for telecoms sector

The Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology, ictQatar, launched a second round of public consultation on its proposed licensing framework for the telecommunications sector in Qatar. This consultation relates to services which will not normally be provided by a licensed public network operator. In order to streamline the licensing processes, ictQatar proposes to introduce a class license for the resale of specific telecommunications services and a class license for owning and operating private telecommunications networks within corporations.

Etisalat and Nokia Collaborate to boost advanced mobile internet based services in the UAE

As part of their plans to further boost the adoption of advanced Mobile Internet services in the Middle East, Etisalat and Nokia announced a joint collaboration to provide convenient access to advanced mobile Internet based services. These services include maps, navigation and games on Nokia devices, based on the Ovi services platform provided by Nokia. In the first phase of the collaboration, Etisalat's UAE mobile customers will be able to enjoy Ovi Maps and N-Gage Games on their Nokia devices, through an easy and convenient payment mechanism. The UAE will be the first country in the Middle East and Africa to roll out this service during Q2, 2009, while the cooperation will be extended to other Etisalat operations in the Middle East and Africa in due course.

Kuwait's Zain to cut 2,000 jobs

Kuwait-based Mobile Telecommunications Company, which is also known as Zain, plans to cut 2,000 jobs or 13% of its global workforce, as part of a new program called Drive2011 to propel the company towards its 2011 target of being a top 10 global mobile telecommunications operator. According to Zain, Drive2011 will focus on customer facing services and commercial activities while centralising or outsourcing some back office and non-core functions to strategic partners. Zain Group will align its head office and operations structures in accordance with the new operating model.

TRA Bahrain takes steps to develop telecommunications and broadband

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain in cooperation with the Minister responsible for Telecommunications Sector, H.E. Shk. Ahmed bin Attiyatalla Al Khalifa, has issued an invitation to consultancy firms to submit proposals to assist the Minster and TRA in adopting the most appropriate policy for Telecommunications Universal Services & Access. The Minister and TRA are aiming to ensure that residents and businesses of the Kingdom of Bahrain have access to affordable telecommunications services, based on international best practices, with particular emphasis on the availability of competitive high speed broadband services. This requirement directly supports the recently issued Economic Vision 2030 for Bahrain.

Egypt regulator rejects France Telecom bid on Mobinil

Egypt's market regulator has rejected France Telecom's bid for the outstanding shares in Mobinil, the centre of a dispute with the other main shareholder Orascom Telecom, three traders said. A statement from the Capital Markets Authority rejected the bid and allowed the resumption of trade in Mobinil and Orascom, which is locked in a dispute with FT over ownership of the Egyptian mobile firm.

Tamkeens ICT industry initiative warmly received

A focused effort by Tamkeen to set Bahraini enterprises in the ICT industry new opportunities to stimulate growth and business development has met with resounding success in connection with the Bahrain ICT Expo 2009 that took place in May 2009. A record 30 companies from this sector have so far taken advantage of Tamkeens innovative Growth Assistance Programme (GAP) and were given the opportunity to showcase their capabilities to service the e-community and e-industry sectors and network with industry big names. The participating companies paid 20% of the total cost through which they were able to benefit from the space and shell stand at the show in the Tamkeen pavilion. Tamkeen's GAP aimed to enable the private sector to enhance their competitiveness and potential to grow through providing them resources and access to expertise to develop their product and marketing strategies.