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Vodafone Qatar to list July 22
Vodafone Qatar has announced it will be listed on the Qatar Exchange on July 22 with foreigners allowed to trade in its shares. Once listed, 100% of the company's authorized share capital will be open to foreign investment, with no limits on foreign ownership, the company has said. The founders' shares, representing 60% of the authorised share capital, are blocked from trading for two years. As per rules, on the first day of listing Vodafone shares will be allowed to freely fluctuate, but from the next trading day the usual 10% cap will apply.
Qtel to up $1.5bn loan
Qatar Telecommunications Co. (Qtel) is launching the syndication of its $1.5bn loan in order to increase the facility amount, Reuters has reported, citing banking sources close to the deal. Existing lenders to the company, in addition to a small number of other banks, are being invited to commit either $50m or $25m to the deal, the sources said. The launch follows the borrower's successful $1.5bn debut bond sale in June, which was oversubscribed.
Zain Levant names CEO
Kuwait's Zain Group has announced the appointment of Abdel Malik Al Jaber as CEO of the Zain Levant Region, made up of Zain Jordan and Paltel which will soon to be re-branded to Zain Palestine. In addition to his new role as CEO of Zain Levant, Dr Al Jaber has been appointed Acting General Manager of Zain Jordan, effective July 15, 2009, the company has said.
Mobile broadband market in MEA to hit $6bn in 2011
A new report by Delta Parnters says the mobile phone broadband market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is expected to be worth $5.9bn by the end of 2011, equal to nearly 70% of the overall broadband market. The combined broadband subscriber base is expected to reach 57 million, with 72% of the total using mobile phone platforms. Africa has the potential to have 24 million clients while the figure for the Middle East is about 17 million, the report added.
Du launches enhanced caller tunes
UAE-based mobile operator Du has announced the launch of enhanced caller tunes service enabling its customers in the UAE to instantly copy the caller tune while listening to the caller tune of the called person by pressing the asterisk button. The new service also helps customers to gift the caller tune by using IVR facility.
Batelco to start India ops in 4th quarter
Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco) has said it expects its Indian mobile phone affiliate S Tel Ltd. to start operations in the fourth quarter, Reuters has reported. In January, a Batelco-led consortium said it had agreed to pay $225m for a 49% stake in S Tel which it would build in stages. Batelco has said on Sunday the stake had reached 42.7%.
Bahrain clamps down on SMS messages
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority is taking action to protect the public from nuisance text messages on their mobile phones, the Gulf Daily News has reported. The new measures include setting a time when such messages can be sent (between 9am and 8pm); limiting the number of messages sent to two per day; forcing senders to specify their identity and contact details; making senders provide simple, free opt-out methods for users who don't want to receive bulk messages; and forcing senders to specify the cost of replying to bulk messages.
Asiacell cuts 500,000 lines
Asiacell, a private Iraqi mobile telecommunication operator, has said that it has begun disconnecting 500,000 unregistered mobile lines. The firm has said the step is in line with the Iraqi Government's regulations, aiming to encourage Iraqis to register their mobile phone lines to ensure mobile lines do not pose social or security problems to the country's citizens. As a result of the scheme, 400,000 Iraqis have come forward to register and reactivate their lines, Asiacell has said.
Emirates International ups Forthnet stake
Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT), a major shareholder of Greece-based broadband operator Forthnet, has acquired further stock, raising its stake to almost 37% against 33.8% a year earlier. Forgendo, a joint venture between EIT and Malta-based Go, bought a total of 693,750 Forthnet shares in July, paying €1.26m.
Batelco to offer mobile ad service
Bahrain's Batelco hassigned an agreement with Velti, a UK-based company platform provider for mobile marketing and advertising services. Velti will provide its Mobile Marketing Platform (MMP) to manage Batelco's future mobile advertising strategies and campaigns, across a variety of inventories, from SMS and MMS to WAP banners or video.
Zain denies Vivendi sale link
Kuwait's mobile operator Zain has denied media reports that it has inked a deal to sell its African assets to France's Vivendi for $12bn, although it has confirmed that talks are ongoing with various parties, Reuters has reported. 'We are discussing... It is a number of companies who are interested in this partnership in Africa... There is nothing specific,' Zain's chief executive, Saad al-Barrak has said.
UAE regulator sets up telcos service centre
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has recently established and activated a service centre to receive enquiries, suggestions and complaints from UAE telecom subscribers regarding their telecom providers, reported State news agency WAM. The centre aims to facilitate the flow of suggestions, complaints and enquiries from the telecom subscribers in the UAE through channels such as website, fax, telephone, and e-mail. The TRA website clarifies the conditions and procedures that the applicant is to follow in case the complaint is related to telecom services provided by telecom operators du and etisalat.
Wataniya seeks acquisitions
Kuwait's National Mobile Telecommunications (Wataniya) has one acquisition in the pipeline and is considering others as main shareholder Qatar Telecom seeks growth outside its home market, the company's chief executive, Scott Gegenheimer told Bloomberg. He also predicted that profit will be 'a little better' in the second quarter compared with the first. 'This year is a very good year when it comes to revenue; we'll be ahead of last year's,' Gegenheimer said.
Vodafone Qatar launches service to public
Vodafone Qatar will start mobile-phone services to the general public today. The company, which is a joint venture between Vodafone Group and the Qatar Foundation, has offered services to a limited number of people including its 82,000 individual and 271 institutional investors.
Mobily drops international rates
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has said that it has reduced its international calls rates between 6:00pm and 6:00am down to SR0.66 per minute. The offer is available to Mobily's prepaid and post-paid subscribers until August 3, 2009. Subscribers of the Rehal visitor's plan will not be able to benefit from the offer, Mobily said. The new rate is valid for all countries except Ethiopia, Somalia, Lichtenstein, Afghanistan, Sao Tome and Principe.
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