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Etisalat has funds for Meditel takeover
Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat) has the funds to pay for the acquisition of Morocco's second-largest telecoms company Meditel, Reuters has reported, citing bankers close to the deal. The list of bidders for the deal includes Oger Telecom, a telecom group controlled by the Saudi Oger Group, Qatar Telecommunications (Qtel) and Etisalat, the banker said. Confirmed bids are due by September 14 and a decision is expected later that month.
Batelco launches auto credit transfer
Batelco has launched a new service, offering its SimSim prepaid customers to transfer credit from one account to another. The of 'Auto Credit Transfer' service allows SimSim subscribers to manage and control the SimSim accounts of their children, family members and staff, through automated monthly credit transfers.
Qtel launches GPRS VPN upgrade
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has launched an enhanced service for corporate users of its WCDA- GPRS Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions. The service provides enterprise and governmental subscribers with a secure wireless extension of their private intranet, over Qtel's GPRS and MPLS network. Four package options are available, ranging from 500MB up to 10GB, Qtel said.
Asiacell offers free Ramadan calls
Private Iraqi mobile telecommunications company, Asiacell is offering limited free off-peak calls during Ramadan. New customers buying the $5 Sim cards for the offer will receive $10 in free credit once they have recharged their account twice. The offer is available to monthly and pre-paid customers.
MTC bags $500,000 at phone number auction
Telecommunications Company Lebanon (MTC Touch) has held its second public auction, with 30 people bidding on new platinum mobile numbers. The 21 phone numbers were sold for $500,000, the company said. A third public auction will be held on the first day of Eid, the company added. The highest amount paid was $68,000 for 71-444444, while the cheapest went for$10,000 (71-111222).
Qatar to issue VSat licences
Qatar's Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar) is to issue three licences for Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSat), the Peninsula has reported. The licences will authorise the operating of a VSat network and the provision of services to Closed User Groups (CUG) within Qatar, and directly between Qatar-based and non-Qatar-based companies, provided they are within the same CUG. The pre-qualification phase kicks off in September and will be open to all interested VSat providers, without restriction of nationality and without a requirement to enter into a partnership or consortium, ictQatar said.
Orascom Telecom H1 profit falls
Egypt-based Orascom Telecom Holding has seen a 33% drop in first-half profit. It said the fall was mainly due to currency charges and $65m of hedge losses in Pakistan. H1 net income fell to $183.6m from $276m. Sales dropped to $2.5bn from $2.7bn. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Naguib Sawiris said: 'The first half of 2009 was characterised by a weak first quarter followed by a stronger second quarter." The company said Q2 income was $111.8m.
STC wins Bahrain licence
Bahrain's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has auctioned its third mobile phone licence to Saudi Arabia's STC Telecom for $240m. STC will invest $100m on infrastructure development, the TRA said. "STC is working on deploying its network to be able to launch by the end of 2009 or early 2010," Mohammed Ahmed Al-Amer, Bahrain's TRA's Chairman said.
Agility considers Korek Telecom sale
Kuwait-based logistics firm Agility has entered the final stages in talks to sell its stake in Iraq's Korek Telecom, Reuters has reported. The company said it will always look to exit an investment if it would be to the benefit of shareholders and stakeholders.
Qtel loan still under syndication
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has said its $1.5bn of forward-start loans is currently in general syndication, The Peninsula has reported. Further details will be released after "official completion and approval," the company said. In March, Qtel said it had hired banks for the $1.5bn of loans, which will replace a $2bn deal maturing in November.
Wataniya Mobile sets Israel a deadline for Palestine network
Palestine's Wataniya Mobile has said that if mobile phone network frequencies are not released by Israel by September 15 it will pursue remedies which may include demands for a refund of its license fee payment and other damages, Reuters has reported. The telco said it had been provided with frequencies that fall below the minimum needed to launch the network. Israel has said it has limited available frequencies, a large number of which are reserved for its military. Mohammed Mustafa, president of the Palestinian Investment Fund, said despite the deadline set by Wataniya there was still hope that the US and European Union - key backers of the project - would sway Israel to issue all the frequencies.
Zain offers free talk time for quick paying customers
Zain Bahrain has said it will offer 30 minutes of free talk-time for use on local calls to customers who pay their invoices on time. "We have recently launched a great campaign to make customers aware of the many convenient ways in which they can settle their Zain telephone invoices," Wissam Kazzaz, Zain Bahrain's loyalty and retention manager said.
Mobily cuts Blackberry prices
Saudi Arabian telco Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) is cutting the price on two models of Blackberry handsets, the Bold 9000 and Curve 8900. The BlackBerry Bold 9000's new price is SR2,575, down from SR2,800, while the Curve 8900 will cost SR1,975 instead of SR2,299. The BlackBerry Internet Service will be available to prepaid as well as post paid customers, coming with 300MB of national traffic for email, chatting and internet browsing, costing SR99 a month.
Mobily expands MMS service
Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has signed a multimedia messaging service (MMS) interconnect agreement with Kuwaiti-based Viva, a Saudi Telecom subsidiary, whereby both operators' subscribers can exchange MMS messages, the company has announced. Mobily has also inked an MMS interconnect agreement with Axis, in Indonesia allowing Mobily subscribers roaming on Axis to send MMS messages to their friends and family in the kingdom provided they are also Mobily subscribers.
Zain upgrades Kuwait download speeds
Zain Kuwait has said it has upgraded and expanded its network to support peak mobile data download speeds up to 21.6 Mbps, with a HSPA upgrade. 'This will enhance the experience of our customers while browsing, downloading large files in addition to streaming live broadcast of television channels & radio stations on the internet. In addition Zain will also be providing devices that support broadband speed up to 21.6 Mbps to the market in the coming weeks,' Zain Kuwait's CEO Khalid Al-Hajeri has said.
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