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Wataniya, Gameloft unveil mobile games portal
Kuwait's telecom services provider, Wataniya has teamed up with Gameloft, publisher of video games on mobile phones, to launch its new game portal on WAP for its mobile phone customers. The partnership will enable customers to receive a free game when they download the game of their choice.
Vodafone to boost call capacity
Vodafone Qatar currently is currently talking to ictQATAR and Qtel to get additional capacity in the latter's international cable landing station in the country, Gulf Times has reported. The planned increase aims to handle the 'rising international traffic' through Vodafone Qatar's network, which has caused difficulties for many customers to avail of the service provider's Dhs50/minute overseas call promotion, the company said.
Mobinil's subscribers up 30%
Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) has said the number of subscribers to its services had increased at the end of June 2009 by 30% to nearly 22.9 million from about 17.5 million at the end of June 2008, Kuwait's Arabic daily Alrai has reported. MobiNil has attributed the increase to the various packages which are tailored to suit the different Egyptian market segments.
Acer launches smartphone
Acer launched its first Windows Mobile smartphone 'Tempo' during Eid Al Fitr in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and will make it available in rest of the region in October. The first device of this series is the Acer DX900, the world's first dual-SIM and dual standby Windows Mobile smartphone supporting both 3G and 2G connections. The phone features a 2.8 inch VGA LCD touch screen, Outlook Mobile email client, with the fully featured Windows Mobile 6.1 professional edition.
Nokia names new Mena chief
Nokia Siemens Networks has announced the appointment of Jorg Erlemeier to lead its Middle East and Africa business, effective October 1, 2009, Reuters has reported. Erlemeier, who has been heading the company's services business in the Asia-Pacific region for the past three years, is replacing the current chief Jan Cron.
Batelco cuts wholesale rates
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has said it has approved the Reference Offer for interconnection and access services offered by Batelco to other licensed operators. Batelco's cost of wholesale international leased line was reduced by more than 20% for circuits to some regions, while up to 40% had been reduced for leased lines used to provide data services to businesses.
Vodafone Qatar subscribers top 100,000
Over 100,000 customers have joined Vodafone Qatar since the company had launched its services two months ago, the firm has said. Half of this number had opened a Freedom account, Vodafone's Postpay-equivalent product, while the remaining half had joined Red, Vodafone's new Prepay tariff, Vodafone has said.
Kharafi appeals for Zain share sales
Kuwait-based Kharafi Group, which had signed a deal with an Asian consortium last week to sell its stake in telecoms firm Zain, has appealed to other shareholders to join the deal, Reuters has reported. National Investments Co, a firm owned by the Kuwaiti conglomerate has urged shareholders who own less than 300,000 shares in Zain as of September 6 to join the offer. 'We hope that these procedures would reflect how keen the head of al-Khair Group is to achieve and protect the interests of small investors and give them priority,' the company said in the advertisement yesterday.
New Zain service links countries at local rates
Zain Bahrain has launched a new service that offers cross-border connectivity linking 14 countries in the Middle East and East Africa at local prices free of roaming surcharges. The One Network service currently covers Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait (data service at local rates only), Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Niger, Malawi, Tanzania, Gabon, Congo B, and Chad, the firm said.
Mobile phone growth in Egypt to slow, says EFG-Hermes
Mobile telecom firms in Egypt will see growth in subscribers drop by a third this year due to increased saturation of the mobile phone market, an EFG-Hermes analyst told Reuters. Eight million new subscribers are expected to be added to Egypt's three mobile operators in 2009, after 12 million subscribers were added in 2008. 'We assume market saturation in Egypt will be at 80% to 85% of the population. The mobile penetration rate was at 55% at the end of 2008 and there is still room for growth but it will take until 2015 or 2016,' Marise Ananian, head of telecoms research at EFG-Hermes told the news wire.
Batelco fined by telecoms regulator
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has fined Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco) for preventing other operators from accessing the country's international data lines, Reuters has reported. Batelco had refused to supply space to other operators to gain access to the kingdom's only connection to the international phone network which is located on Batelco's premises. The fine could increase or decrease depending on Batelco's response to an order to provide access to other operators, for which it has 30 days, the regulator said.
Etisalat makes offer for Millicom assets in Sri Lanka
Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) said it recently made an offer to buy the mobile-phone assets of Millicom International Cellular in Sri Lanka, Bloomberg has reported. Millicom, which provides prepaid wireless services in emerging markets, is selling assets in Asia to limit competitive and political risks.
Mobily inks deal with Qualcomm
Saudi Arabia-based Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily) has signed an agreement with Qualcomm, a US-based developer of wireless technologies, products and services. Under the agreement, Qualcomm will provide training on a variety of wireless network operations and technologies.
Mobinil pushes for lower gateway charges
Egyptian mobile telephone operator Mobinil may resort to buying its own international gateway licence if its current provider, Telecom Egypt, does not reduce charges for leasing circuits and telephone exchanges and for international calls, Al Mal newspaper has reported. 'If TE does not provide for the needs of its customers at competitive rates for international calls, then every company will study getting its own licence,' Mobinil's Commercial VP Yasser Radwan was quoted as saying.
Batelco launches voice SMS service
Bahrain-based telecom company Batelco has launched Samm3ni, the kingdom's first Voice SMS service, for its post-paid and pre-paid customers. Rates for the service are the same for regular SMS messages, with charges varying based on the subscribers package, Batelco said.
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