MyAdhan Blog

Lnk: Emirates Telecom takes over Tanzanian operator

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat), the third-largest Gulf telecom firm by market value, said on Monday it had raised its stake in Tanzania’s fourth operator Zanzibar Telecom Ltd to 51 percent. Etisalat bought an additional 17 percent of the African company better known as Zantel, the company said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse Web site, without saying how much it paid. Zantel, the smallest mobile phone operator in Tanzania, hopes to double its customer base to as many as 1 million users by year end, Chief Executive Noel Herrity said in May. Tanzania, east Africa’s largest country, has a population of around 39 million.

Viewpoint: Pakistan: Mobile phones, a new development tool?

Mobile phone penetration now vastly exceeds internet usage around the world. Regions of the world where mobile phone use is growing fastest include the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia. The potential for technology to help secure prosperity for all is oft repeated. In the past few decades, several information and communication technologies (ICTs) have also been developed that can promote various development goals like increasing the socio-economic and political participation of previously marginalised people. Such development-oriented ICTs include e-government, e-business, e-learning, and even e-health applications. However, owing to the unavailability of required infrastructure, and a lack of rudimentary skills, such as the ability to read, poor people in remote areas of most developing countries still find it difficult to use available ICT applications for self-empowerment. It is the responsibility of development practitioners to realise this problem and begin offering solutions that can deliver results, despite the existing constraints…

Link: Turkey: Union member caught cutting telecommunication cables

A union member was caught red-handed last Friday by area residents as he was cutting a Türk Telekom fiber optic telecommunication cable in Ä°stanbul’s Ãœmraniye district. R.Ç., a technician employed by Türk Telekom, and two of his friends were spotted while handling the cables with cutting materials in hand. Türk Telekom’s top executive, Paul Doany, had claimed on Oct. 16 that the Turkish Telecommunication Workers’ Union (Haber-Ä°ÅŸ) was committing acts of sabotage against his company to illegally force it to accept the union’s demands. Around 26,000 Haber-Ä°ÅŸ workers have been on strike for more than a week. The company is trying to run its business with only the small number of workers who opted not to strike.

Link: Sudan: RASCOM Board of Directors discuss strategy for utilisation of the African satellite

The Board of Directors of the Regional African Satellite Communication organisation (RASCOM) continued its meetings at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum on Sunday, chaired by Director General of the Sudanese National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) Abbas Arabi and discussed mapping out a strategy for utilization of the African satellite after its launching in next December. The NTC Director General pointed out in a press statement that the meeting stressed the importance of the political and financial support from the member states of the organization for the success of the African satellite project and the possibility of attraction of the African telecommunication company to utilize the services of the satellite to provide telecommunication services to the rural areas. The meeting also called on the African financial institutions to join the organization, pointing out that the Southwest Africa Development Bank has joined as a new member in the current session. Arabi said that the meeting also discussed how to celebrate the launching of the African telecommunication satellite as an important historic event for the service of Africa and uniting its people, referring to the completion of all the infrastructures for the project.

Link: Pakistan: PTCL extends date for payment of bills to 27th

The telephone bills for the month of September have been sent through post, a spokesperson of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) said on Sunday. He said the due date for the payment of phone bills has been extended to October 27. He urged subscribers to pay their phone bills by October 27 without surcharge in order to avoid disconnection of phones and payment of surcharge after the due date.

Link: Turkey: Telecom infrastructure ‘inadequate for disasters’

A strike currently under way by Türk Telekom workers has shown that Turkey is unprepared for times of war or natural disaster in terms of providing uninterrupted telecommunications services, said Yusuf Ata Arıak, chairman of the Turkish Competitive Telco Operators Association (TELKODER). The strike has made it certain that there is no alternative infrastructure to continue communications — and this is only solvable through liberalization of the business, he claimed. Arıak further noted that if the strike continues another week, serious problems in home land lines will begin to appear.

Link: Oman Mobile sets new SMS, calls records during Eid days

Subscribers of Oman Mobile set new records during the Eid Al Fitr days by sending 88 million SMSes and making 24 million voice-related services during October 12 and 13, 2007 only, without experiencing traffic congestion or failures. This clearly reflects the high performance of the Oman Mobile network and dedication of those who spent 24 hours observing the service in the interest of the valued customers.

A follow up to:
Brunei charity collects 55k by SMS

Link: Brunei: Hundreds Of Thousands In SMS Donation Received For National Orphans Fund

As of yesterday at 8am, $167.481 was donated to the National Orphans Fund through the Brunei SMS Prihatin by DST users. Meanwhile, at 7pm last Oct 16, a joint contribution by DST and B-mobile users totalling $203, 439 were recorded. Members of the public still have an opportunity to scud in more donations by today. Contributions can he made by typing YATIM followed by the desired amount ($1, $5, $10 or $20) and sending it to 8885555 for DST and 10101 for B-mobile. They will go towards helping and providing financial assistance for orphans.

Link: Malaysia: SMS voting used in student elections

Student elections were fought on less familiar grounds this year as SMS and online campaigning took some campuses by storm. Online campaigning gave candidates the advantage of presenting their manifestos round the clock without the burden of extra costs. Video footage also added a whole new dimension to the battle for the hearts and minds of students as they left a more lasting impression than mere speeches or written material. While most candidates went online to post their manifestos, others chose to use that medium to vent their frustrations.

Link: Bahrain: Batelco on “Next Generation Network” Phase 3

Batelco has announced, it is moving to Phase 3 of its NGN (Next Generation Network) services. The Company has committed an investment of $16m for the final phase of their $57m investment to complete the project to deliver automated broadband access to all residences in Bahrain.