2002
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Q-Tel, SMS service
Info2cell.com has announced that it had extended its network to Qatar with the recent launch of the Q-Info service routed through Q-Tel's own short message service centre. Mobile phone users in Qatar can now avail the SMS breaking news services both in Arabic and English, thus enabling them to keep updated on recent events around the world.
Samsung, new mobile phone
Samsung has launched a new mobile phone across the Middle East, the SGH-A800, with a clamshell design and a phone book with room for 2,000 entries. It features an external display and weighs just 68 grams.
Bahrain telecoms full liberalisation
A blueprint for the liberalisation of the Bahrain telecoms market, which will be fully competitive in 2004, is laid out in a new report from the Arab Advisors Group. The GSM and Internet segments will be the first to open up to competition, notes the report. It also calls for a strong regulator to ensure that the open market functions properly.
Batelco launches payments gateway
Bahrain's ministry of commerce has become the first government body to sign up for Bahrain Telecommunications' payment gateway, www.itijara.com. This allows the use of Visa cards over the Internet for the payment of ministry services.
Inmarsat, mobile broadband Net
Inmarsat is set to demonstrate the region's first broadband mobile Internet access to the media this Sunday. This technology allows high speed access to the Net from anywhere in the region without roaming or network restrictions.
ComGuard stays vendor neutral
ComGuard, the professional IT security solutions provider, has declared that it will not contractually bind itself exclusively to any multinational software or hardware manufacturer. Officials said this decision aimed at taking the lead in introducing increased levels of transparency and cost reduction in the IT security consulting industry.
30Ghz Intel chip by 2010
Intel expects to have a 30Ghz silicon chip by 2010 and is already testing a 3Ghz chip, strategic and marketing manager Alan Priestley told journalists in Dubai. He said voice-recognition applications and video would make use of such vast new computing power. We have never reached a situation where hardware got ahead of software applications, he added.
Oracle portal for LibanCell mobiles
Oracle has announced that LibanCell has launched its new Stretch portal based on wireless edition of Oracle9i application server. Customers of the Lebanese GSM provider are now able to utilize the multi-access portal via the Internet, WAP, and SMS to receive a wealth of news, entertainment, and e-mail content, including personalization features.
E-prison service for Dubai
The Dubai Police told Gulf News that there will soon be a website at the Dubai prison to allow inmates to communicate with their relatives, lawyers and embassies through email. However, no date was given for this latest e-government initiative.
Avaya opens DIC solutions centre
Avaya customers will be able to test-drive the latest in cabling solutions at the US giant's new Systimax Solutions Centre in the Dubai Internet City which opened today. The group also announced that it will be wiring up the USD60m Dubai Knowledge Village in a new landmark contract. This will include 19,300 plug sockets, 1,100km of copper cable and seven kilometres of fibre optic cable.
3G slow in Japan, Mid East worries
The slow take-up of 3G mobile phone services in Japan, with only 149,000 signed up by DoCoMo in the first year, is likely to lead to a rethink about the introduction of the technology in the Middle East. So far only the UAE's Etisalat is committed to rolling out 3G in early 2004. 3G phones allow videophone connections and download data 40 times faster than GPRS units.
MEED, Zawya vie for subscriptions
MEED.com has started to offer a daily news service on its website which has a USD100 surcharge for access. MEED's weekly journal is widely acknowledged as a leading source of regional business information. Rival Zawya.com charges USD1,600 for access to its Corporate Monitor database which also includes news items more than 48 hours old. The AMEInfo news service remains free to the user, as is Zawya.com for the first 48 hours.
E-data link for UAE trade bodies
The UAE ministry of economy and commerce is working on an initiative to create an e-data base linking together all the trade licencing bodies across the country, according to Akhbar Al Arab. The newspaper said this would help to correct imbalances in the country's demographic structure.
UAE, free domain names for schools
In a move to increase the number of Internet sites registered under the .ae domain, the United Arab Emirates Network Information Center has announced that one free domain name will be offered to all educational institutions, government departments and non-profit organisations in the UAE. The free domains will be www.name.sch.ae for schools, www.name.ac.ae for colleges and universities, www.name.gov.ae for government bodies, and www.name.org.ae for non-profit organisations.
SMC, Saudi education network
Dubai's SMC Networks has won a USD2m contract from the Saudi Arabian ministry of education to link up 15,000 PCs and 3,000 laptops. The SMC product has been used by the ministry for three years and offered the lowest cost.
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