MyAdhan Blog

Link: Saudi Telecom bids for Kuwait telco stake

Saudi Telecom Co, the largest Arab telecom by market value, said it has made a bid for a stake in Kuwait’s third mobile telephone firm on the last day of the bidding process. “Entering the Kuwaiti market would boost the integration of the telecommunications networks in the two countries,” Saudi Telecom said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse Web site late on Sunday. The Kuwait Investment Authority, which is managing the sale of the 26% stake, has set Nov. 18 as the deadline for receiving bids.

MyAdhan has recently published its November 2007 Newsletter.

We took a short break from our monthly emails but are now back. You can check out our previous mailing list emails here.

If you didn’t already know MyAdhan is sponsoring the Allah Made Me Funny Tour. There are still tickets available for the tour that will go through all UK major cities including London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Dundee, Leicester and Reading. Look out for us as co-sponsor Muslim Aid are using MyAdhan to collect charity donations by SMS.

MyAdhan has also done an interview in the latest edition of EMEL Magazine. Be sure to pick up a copy as the article talks about to how MyAdhan started and it’s plan for the future. EMEL is available in most good magazine outlets like WHSmith, Borders, Tesco and ASDA.

Finally, with Facebook fever currently taking over the Internet, MyAdhan decided to set up a Facebook Group to allow MyAdhan subscribers and supporters to collaborate. Be sure to add this group if you are a Facebook user.

Link: Vice President presents Etisalat’s key achievements in telecommunications at Woman’s Global Economic Forum

Ahmed Bin Ali, Vice President of Corporate Communications, Etisalat, today presented Etisalat’s achievements during the Woman Global Economic Forum held at Beach Rotana Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Ahmed Bin Ali presented Etisalat’s success stories since it was launched. Today, Etisalat has become one of the leading telecommunication companies in the region and the world. Etisalat is the leading company in the UAE and is ranked the fourth in the Middle East in terms of market capital. He said: “Etisalat’s advanced technologies are one of the most important tools that have helped Etisalat achieve its success and improve the UAE’s economy.” Ahmed Bin Ali also highlighted the importance of a woman’s role in the UAE and the world. Also, he shed light on how Etisalat empowers women with different programs. He also emphasized that a woman’s role in society should extend further into society.

Link: Saudi Arabia: SMS Drive to Raise Awareness on Osteoporosis

As part of a national campaign against the spread of osteoporosis in the Kingdom, more than a million SMS text messages will be sent by the Ministry of Health to the public about the importance of combating the disease. “We want to take possible preventive measures against the disease, which is common mostly among women over the age of 50,” said Dr. Yacoub Al-Mazroei, deputy minister of health, who launched the campaign on behalf of Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie. Quoting recent reports, Al-Mazroei said one out of two women over the age of 50 is either susceptible or a victim of the disease. Among men the ratio is one to eight.

Link: UAE: Emirati invents easy SMS for the deaf and dumb

An Emirati man has invented a simple text messaging service (SMS) for the deaf and dumb and his main goal is not to make money but for this invention to become a mainstream project. After seeing an urgent need for the deaf and dumb to participate in the mobile revolution, Fahed Jaber thought to use the universal sign language as a platform for his idea. “I thought to myself, why should they be kept out of this necessary communication? I kept on thinking for a long time and then I started implementing it,” Jaber, a graphic designer, said.

Link: Muslim Aid: Bangladesh cyclone alert

A potentially catastrophic cyclone struck at 9pm last night (15th of November) in Bangladesh, inflicting heavy damages to properties and infrastructure. Bangladesh Field Office is monitoring the situation and three emergency response teams are on stand-by with equipment and provisions. They are coordinating with the Disaster Management Bureau and the District Authorities who are currently getting people into cyclone shelters. Our staff, who are in Cox’s Bazaar, are at present in cyclone shelters and giving us updates from the ground. Muslim Aid Bangladesh’s Field Office (MABFO) workers have informed us that there has been widespread power outage in Southern Bangladesh from 11pm last night, including most of Dhaka city. Mobile Phone networks have also been disrupted, further complicating the situation. The latest reports from the media, MABFO staff and our development partner NGOs have suggested today that the number of deaths is steadily increasing (current figures exceed 500) and the damage to properties and infrastructure is great.

Link: Malaysia: mTouche to operate network with telco by March

mTouche Technology Bhd targets to run first-of-its-kind M-Bit Network with at least one of the major telecommunications companies (telcos) by March. mTouche was still in talks with DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Maxis Communications Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd, chief executive officer Eugene Goh said without disclosing details. “We hope to attract about 500,000 subscribers and anticipate M-Bit Network will contribute about 10% to our bottomline,” he said after the company EGM yesterday. The company is also in talks with four major telcos in Japan, where it will have a M-Bit Network trial run next month. Goh said mTouche was negotiating a 50:50 profit-sharing ratio with potential partners but added: “We have yet to finalise the financial details and terms of the contracts.”

Link: Pakistan: Beware of SMS text fraud

As cell phone service providing companies have launched credit-sharing for customers there has been a spread of spam messages and calls inviting them to type in a specific message such as 10092300123456740 to have their balance doubled. They also promise cash prizes. Customers have lost their balance by responding to such messages, said Omar Manzur, Manager Public Relations, Mobilink. There is no such promotion taking place right now and if such a promotion did take place Mobilink would never ask the lucky-draw participants to send a code in order to win. Mobilink uses this format for balance transfer only. Lucky-draw campaigns and other promotions are widely covered and announced in media campaigns and not through SMS only. The PTA website is also advising cellular customers to ignore messages received from unknown sources as this can result in loss of balance to unaware customers, he added.

Link: Telecom Egypt net profit up, in talks to sell Lacom

Telecom Egypt, the Arab country’s fixed-line telephone monopoly, reported a 12.3 percent rise in net profit for the first nine months of 2007 and said it was in talks with two firms to sell its joint venture in Algeria. The company said on Thursday its net profit rose to 1.7 billion Egyptian pounds ($308.5 million) compared with 1.5 billion pounds in the same period a year earlier, slightly above analysts’ expectations. CIBC Brokerage and Shuaa Capital had expected the company’s net profit forecast for the period to reach 1.6 billion pounds. Total revenues reached 7.5 billion pounds from 6.9 billion pounds in the same period of 2006, the company said in a statement. It said the total number of fixed-line subscribers rose 3 percent to 11.03 million.

Link: Mobile instant messaging in Arabic now

Saudi Telecom Company (STC), a major Cellular Service Provider in Saudi Arabia today announced that it has launched Mobile Instant Messaging and Presence service (IMPS) based on GSMA guidelines in Saudi. The service offered is based on a solution provided by Ericsson and Jataayu Software. Mobile Instant Messaging and Presence Service is the next generation service. It is being promoted by GSMA under its Personal IM initiative. STC, a market leader in Middle East Telecom region, endeavors to provide its customers with the latest & timely solutions and new services to meet the requirements of its current and future customers. With the launch of IMPS services by STC in native language, it aims to provide information and services in an easily accessible manner to the subscriber. Jataayu along with Ericsson offers, robust IMPS infrastructure that can offer standards-based interoperable IMPS services can ensure user privacy and effect flexible billing models.