2006
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Datatec, Westcon Cisco deal
Datatec and its Westcon AME subsidiary have signed a strategic agreement with Cisco, which will lead to the establishment of a dedicated operation in Dubai, focussed on the sales and marketing of Cisco products in the Gulf. The new firm will be known as Comstor Middle East and its sales, marketing and logistics activities will be supported through Westcon Group European Operations.
Qtel, Malaysian 3G deal
Qtel has launched 3G mobile roaming services in collaboration with Maxis Malaysia, reported The Peninsula. 3G roaming services have also been partially launched with SK Telecom South Korea, Smart Philippines, Smartone-Vodafone Hong Kong and NTT DoCoMo Japan. All the venues at the ongoing Asian Games in Doha have been equipped to handle 3G roaming.
No huge telco price cuts in UAE
Etisalat and du's recent promises of cheaper calls will offer better value for customers but will not lead to a drastic reduction, reported Gulf News. UAE rates are more expensive than the US, Europe and India but both operators have pledged to charge calls by the second, which should ease prices. With the government having a controlling stake in both outfits, experts say huge cuts are unlikely.
Google, Egypt education deal
Google has reached an agreement with Egypt's ministries of education and higher education to offer 11m students in the country a range of hosted applications. From December 3, and as part of Google Apps for Education, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Talk were provided free of charge to students. Each student will now be able to utilise 2 gigabytes of email storage space and enhanced spam filtering.
Batelco, old for new offer
Batelco is offering customers the opportunity to trade in their old mobile phones for new ones via a promotion which will run until after Eid Al Adha. Customers can take their old phone to the Batelco shops at Seef or Bahrain Malls where its condition will be assessed. If the customer accepts the trade-in price, vouchers will be offered which can be used towards the purchase of a new handset.
Tejari online government tenders
UAE-based Tejari has developed an online government tender service with Development Gateway Foundation. Called Manshoori, the Arabic and English platform is the region's first deployment of Development Gateway's web-based dgMarket service. It will allow governments in the Middle East to post 'e-tenders' for projects, Tejari said in a statement.
BT launches 21C GV
UK telecom giant BT launched its 21C Global Venture in Dubai today. President of BT International, Francois Barrault said 21C GV will advise regional telcos on next generation networks based on IP standards. This will provide the digital revolution of the future that will increasingly divide countries, he added.
Gmail goes to Egypt
Google is opening up its Gmail free web-mail service to users in Egypt. Account holders get 2.7GB of space. It is one of a number of products Google has made available in Arabic which include Google News, Rosetta, Mobile Web Search, AdWords and a new version of the Google Toolbar 4.
W710i Walkman in Mideast
Sony Ericsson has released its W710i Walkman in the Middle East. It includes a motion sensor and new fitness applications that measure running speed, distance and time, or can count walking steps. The phone features a 2-megapixel camera with digital zoom.
Telcos to merge says expert
A merger of telecom companies in the Middle East is likely over the next ten years, leaving four or five major operators, according to Etisalat's chairman Mohammad Omran quoted in Gulf News. Omran said industry consolidation will be pushed by the need for economies of scale.
Reliance makes Bahrain NFWS bid
India's Reliance Communications has bid for the national fixed wireless services of Bahrain, according to Trade Arabia, citing a report in Business Standard Online. Eight other telcos have also expressed interest in the licence, which Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority will award in January 2007.
Verisign wins .com control
The US has given Verisign control of the .com and .net internet domains until 2012, giving it a monopoly hold on the .com domain, the BBC reports. Verisign has run the .com domain since 1999. Analysts have criticised the decision to give Verisign control for so long. The .com domain is the internet's most popular, with 59m .com addresses registered.
Samsung, mobile TV phone
Samsung Electronics has launched the SGH-P910, a digital video broadcasting phone, in the Middle East. The P910 also offers a 1.3 mega pixel camera, a built-in MP3 player and a 20MB memory. For TV viewing, the 2.2 inch TFT LCD screen can display 30 images a second.
Omantel, $26m network expansion
The Oman Telecommunications Company is to invest $26.1m in network expansion projects, reported the Oman Daily Observer. Marc de Marcillac, Sales Director at Omantel, said that, with demand for the company's services growing rapidly, it was necessary to expand the network in order to meet statutory obligations of providing an effective telecommunications service. Omantel is enhancing its transmissions networks with a series of fibre optic rings right across the country.
Creative, Saudi tie-up
Creative Technology has signed a distribution agreement for the whole of Saudi Arabia with the Riyadh based BDL Company. BDL has a channel network of around 480 active resellers across the kingdom. Creative is currently hosting dealer seminars in Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar.
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