MyAdhan Blog

Link:Sudan and the Telecommunication Industry

Development in Sudan’s Telecommunication industry is one of the most visible achievements, together with Oil, of the present government in Sudan. These two achievements had given the economy a very great boost in spite of the fact that the benefits from oil at least has not reflected itself yet in a visible in the level of living of the majority of the Sudanese people. The development in the area of telecommunication was very impressive and was able to attract considerable investments from outside the country and had given a good number of the population to be in a daily contact with each other through the ingenious invention of the mobile phone. It brought distant people together in an unprecedented way and at a time when the usually well knit Sudanese social fabric is showing signs of decay, at least in Sudans’s urban areas. About 6 % of the Sudan’s population had mobile phones by end of 2005 according to the Arab Advisory Group, Amman.

Link: Iran: Cell phones dominate the markets

Iran has entered a new era of mobile communications with the number of operators getting licenses to develop new services that could lead to another seven million people using portable phone.

As 20 million subscribers are using cell phones in Iran, the amount of penetration of cell phone is about 24 percent. Experts expect the market to expand to 27 million subscribers.

Link: Child Abuse Case In Kuwait Becomes SMS Contest

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - A Kuwaiti company started a media race to take advantage of the Egyptian man’s case in which he is accused of abusing 18 children. The media company started a SMS contest, includes one question “what do you think the just ruling in the Hawali monster case should be?”

Link: Plans for Kuwait’s third telco move forward

The Kuwaiti government has brought forward the launch of an initial public offering for the country’s third mobile operator by a month, according to a Kuwaiti newspaper.

The government previously said the IPO would begin in January next year, but Al Seyassah reported today the offering will now happen in December.

Link: Untold Text Stories: SMS in IRAQ

One of the untold text stories I’ve been privy to is the amount of SMS that flows out of Iraq into destinations around the world and the success of texting in the Iraqi mobile market. Untold, since in 2005 I was being interviewed by FORTUNE and The Wall Street Journal on the market dynamics of SMS into and out of Iraq. Why the stories were eventually “spiked” is pure speculation since at the time the drive by media swarmed around the difficulty of the war and it’s influencing the mid-term US Congressional elections. Explanations from both reporters were never forthcoming.

Link: United Arab Emirates: SMS news updates for expat cell phone users

Dubai: Etisalat has launched several new SMS news services that cover different languages and nations. Cell phone users can get news updates from countries including Pakistan, India and the Philippines from the new ‘Weyak’ services. Subscribers pay Dh10 a month for news on politics, business, entertainment and sports, with updates five to six times a day.

Link: Malaysia: Policeman’s open SMS line policy pays off

A move by city police chief Asst Comm Ku Chin Wah to keep an open line to the public has paid off with him receiving “extra” information about certain cases. And he intends to maintain the short message system (SMS) line going when he takes over as Kuala Lumpur police criminal investigations chief from Friday.

“Having the SMS has been really useful for us,” Ku told reporters here on Wednesday.

Soon after taking over as Kota Kinabalu police chief last November, Ku gave out a cellular telephone number (0128362224) for the public to provide any information about criminal cases.

Link: United Arab Emirates: Etisalat expands Greetune

Etisalat is expanding its Greetune ring tone service with a selection of tunes from the Sony BMG catalogue, which includes various musical genres including rock, R&B and jazz. Customers can subscribe to Greetune via SMS, by sending ‘r greetune’ to 1010, or by dialling 125. Earlier this month, Etisalat added tunes from the EMI Music catalogue to its Greetune offering.

Link: Jordan: STS offers PayONE Voucher

STS, a Jordanian ePayment solutions provider and system integrator, has launched an eVoucher product, the PayONE Voucher. The new product provides pre-paid and post-paid service providers with an electronic recharging and payment system. STS is aiming the product at wholesalers and distributors, telecom operators, banks, other billers as well as retailers and outlets which utilise vouchers.

Link: United Arab Emirates: Etisalat summer offer

Etisalat has launched a summer promotion for new and existing Wasel and post-paid mobile customers. As part of the offer, subscribers will be able to make ten minutes of free video calls to any 3G mobile in the UAE and they will also be able to sign up for the Global Friends and Family plan without any charge for a 30 day period. Registration for the offer closes on August 31.