MyAdhan Blog

Link: Malaysia: SMS scam offers prizes to Celcom subscribers with ‘lucky SIM card’

Celcom’s eastern region general manager, Datuk Sulaiman Ahmad, said the scam has been traced over the last two weeks. “Although the SMS came from a 15-digit mobile phone number (overseas number), we have investigated and found that the syndicate is based in Kuala Lumpur,” he told reporters after presenting gifts to 30 Celcom dealers and customers who won in its “Buy, Register and Win” contest yesterday. Present were Kota Baru branch manager Amir Abdul Majid and Kuala Terengganu branch manager Rooshihan Merican. He said the SMSs were baseless and not connected to the company. “If we were to organise it, we would have used a proper channel. This is the first time that such a scam had been connected directly to the company,” he said.

Link: 9 new bids for Kuwait 3rd telco, Saudi Telecom among 30 final bidders

Another Link: 9 groups vie for 26% of Kuwait’s 3rd telco

The Establishing Committee for the 3rd Mobile Tele-communications Company in Kuwait received on Sunday nine new bids for the Public Auction of selling 26 percent of the company shares, the Committee said on Monday. The nine new bids were received after the registration deadline ended. “As of November 17, 2007 there were 30 interested parties who had registered for the participation in the Public Auction,” the Committee said. The 30 tender participants include 18 companies registered on the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange (KSE) and 12 foreign telecommunications operators. The nine new interested parties include Saudi Telecom; Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Eti-salat); Turkcell: Kuwait Finance House; Batelco, Kuwait Consortium (Bahrain Telecommunications Com-pany and the Investment Dar KSCC); Consortium including Noor Financial Investment Company and Kuwait Commercial Bank and Petra Jordanian Mobile Telecommunication Company; Consortium of Kuwait Cable Vision and Iraq Holding; Global Investment House; and finally a Consortium that includes the National Industries Group and Kuwait Privatization Projects Holding Company.

Link: Oman Mobile offers a host of SMS-based services

Oman Mobile is always keen to get further connected with its subscribers through its innovative services. SMS, for instance, is the most valuable mobile service as it provides unlimited solutions at the least cost. Some major companies have adopted the SMS as a mode of communication with its customers such as answering queries and updates of certain information. Oman Mobile has rendered such communication into feasible service for corporates, called iBulk SMS.

The last London night was the only opportunity I had to attend the Allah Made Me Funny tour. It was a wet Wednesday evening in West London but the mood was still great. The Riverside Studios was the venue for the last London date of the AMMF tour. Before the start of the evenings festivities I got a chance to go back stage to meet the comedians. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Preacher Moss in the past and it was great to catch up with him. I also met Azhar Usman who was fired up and ready to do his part in the evenings entertainment. New to the team was Mohammed Amer, it was a pleasure to meet this brother who I had never seen before.

The event started a little late with Azhar leading the charge. I had seen Azhar in the past and was wondering how he had developed his act since I last saw him. I half expected the same jokes but was seemingly surprised with the new material and impressed with his ability to bring the audience to tears from his talents. Next up was Mohammed Amer. What an amazing comedian. I was in stitches throughout his set and wondered why he hadn’t already made aname for himself. Maybe it’s because he’s based in the US.

Finally, Preacher Moss graced the stage. I actually met Preacher way back in 2004 when he did his first UK tour. I was fortunate enough to spend a 7 day road trip with him and a bunch of Nasheed artists including the Flecher Valve Drummers. Preacher, the pioneer and creator of the “Allah Made Me Funny” tour ended a fabulous evening with another collection of witty observations and anecdotes that made me realise that humour is something that Muslims desperately need. Don’t get me wrong Muslims do need to be serious but I think we are often perceived as being too serious. That being said laughing, should be in moderation or someone will have to call an ambulance for me!

Great work guys, see you in the new year for another tour Inshallah.

Link: GCC to invest $375 billion in telecom infrastructure

The GCC countries are expected to spend up to $375 billion on the expansion of telecommunications and related infrastructure over the next decade, according to industry experts. Current and active civil engineering and infrastructure projects of all kinds in the GCC countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have a combined value of $1.3 trillion alone, according to research company Proleads. An estimated 25 per cent of the multi-billion dollar GCC infrastructure development budgets will be spent on expanding telecommunications, according to the organisers of the second Middle East International Communications Exhibition and Conference (Mecom 2008) which takes place from May 26-28, 2008 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

Link: Emirates Telecom may invest up to $5 bln in Africa

Another Link: Etisalat to invest up to $5bn in Africa

Etisalat, the second-largest Arab telecom company by market value, is considering new investments of up to $5 billion in Africa, it said on Monday. Etisalat, which lost its telecom monopoly at home when rival du (DU.DU: Quote, Profile, Research) launched a mobile phone network in February, took over Zanzibar Telecom in Tanzania last month and bought 40 percent of a new Nigerian operator in September. “We can spend between $3 (billion) and $5 billion for investing in Africa when the opportunities arise,” Etisalat Chairman Mohammad Hassan Omran told Reuters. Etisalat has spent more than $6.5 billion on foreign acquisitions in the past three years, including a 66 percent stake in Egypt’s third mobile phone firm, which started operations in May.

Link: UAE: Mobily agrees to Share network with Zain

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) will allow its network to be shared by Zain Group, formerly known as the MTC Group, which was awarded the third mobile telecommunications license for 25 years in Saudi Arabia following its SR22.91billion ($6.109 billion) bid. “We have agreed to share our network with Zain since this is a large market where assistance from an existing network should support a new operator,” David Murphy, chief marketing officer of Mobily, said in an exclusive interview with Arab News. He added that Mobily likes to work with Zain and help them in their maiden venture in the Kingdom. Ruling out problems for Mobily due to the entry of a third mobile operator in the Kingdom, Murphy said the Kingdom is a vast market where the new operator could tap virgin areas to develop their business. He also pointed out that there won’t be a price war but each operator would try to give valued-added services to their customers.

Link: UAE: Thuraya to launch satellite mobile services in Asia-Pacific

Thuraya, the United Arab Emirates-based world’s largest provider of handheld mobile satellite services, is set to commercially launch its operations in the Asia-Pacific markets by January with the launch of its third satellite on Monday. ‘The launch of Thuraya-3 is a significant milestone in the company’s progress towards realizing its strategic vision of becoming a dynamic, world leading, multi-regional mobile satellite operator,’ Thuraya chief executive Yousuf Al Sayed told the Emirates News Agency (WAM). Though the launch of Thuraya-3 was originally scheduled for 3.47 p.m. (9.47 p.m. IST) Sunday, it has been rescheduled for 7.47 p.m. Monday, according to the Abu Dhabi-headquartered Thuraya website.

Link: Egypt: TA Telecom launches region’s first mobile music identification brand ‘NuuMuu’

TA Telecom, the Egypt-based wireless and application service provider, today announced that it has launched a pioneering new music brand NuuMuu, its first offering in the music identification mobile service. The service is available as of November in the MENA region, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain, and will be provided via in-country Interactive Voice Response (IVR) short numbers. The first offering that NuuMuu will be introducing is advanced music identification. The music fingerprinting technology adopted by NuuMuu will allow subscribers’ phones to recognize music tracks and their performing artists by simply calling their country number while the song is playing, pointing the phone towards the source of the music and recording a 15-second clip of the song. The service will search for a fingerprint of the clip in the archive, and respond to the subscriber via SMS within minutes, using the same technology as the UK’s Kazaaam service.

Link: Analyst questions UAE mobile subscription figures

Related News: UAE posts 170% mobile penetration

Related News: Etisalat crosses 6.3mn mark

Mobile subscriber penetration rates for the UAE published by local operators Etisalat and du could be inflated, according to Jordan-based analysts, Arab Advisors Group. UAE incumbent Etisalat recently announced that mobile penetration in the country had topped 150% and claimed it was “the number one telecom operator in terms of mobile penetration in the world”. The company’s domestic rival, du, published figures last week claiming that its subscriber base had reached one million ‘active subscribers’.