MyAdhan Blog

Link: Saudi Arabia: Mobily profit tops forecasts

Another Link: Mobily beats profit forecasts

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) beat fourth-quarter earnings forecasts as growth in subscribers boosted profit of Saudi Arabia’s second mobile phone firm by 55.8 percent. Mobily made 514 million riyals ($137.1 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31 compared with 330 million riyals a year earlier, it said in a statement on the Saudi bourse Web site. The quarterly profit topped all six forecasts for Mobily’s earnings in a Reuters net profit survey last month, which ranged from 349 million riyals to 481 million riyals. The average forecast was for a profit gain of 23.8 percent. “The improvement in earnings was due to an increase in sales outlets, improved services which have both led to a rise in the number of subscribers,” Mobily said in the statement. It did not release subscriber numbers. The company, in which Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) owns 35 percent, said 2007 profit almost doubled to 1.38 billion riyals, from 700 million riyals in 2006, as sales grew 44.3 percent to 8.44 billion riyals.

Link: Bahrain: Man jailed for stealing nephew’s mobile phone

A Bahraini man has been jailed for six months for stealing his nephew’s mobile phone. According to court documents, he pinched the item from under the 17-year-old’s bed, while he slept at his grandfather’s house in Muharraq. The man, 22, had earlier denied the charge but was convicted at a hearing in the Lower Criminal Court. The crime happened on October 14 last year and the defendant had already been remanded in custody throughout the duration of the trial. The victim said in a statement to the police that he was sleeping in the sitting room of the house at around 8am when the crime happened. He said a sudden noise woke him up and he saw his uncle searching inside his bag. “I was half awake and went back to sleep again,” said the teenager. “When I woke up I searched for my mobile phone but it was missing and I could not find it anywhere. “I dialed my phone number from another mobile but it was switched off. “Then I remembered that when I woke up I saw my uncle searching for something inside my bag and something was in his hands. “I am sure it is my uncle who stole my phone when I was sleeping.” Court papers show the defendant had pleaded his innocence when he was arrested and questioned by police.

Follow Up (7/2/2008): Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to start 3G mobile phone licensing this year

Follow Up (30/1/2008): PTA to offer 3G licences to cellular companies

Link: Pakistan to Issue 3G Licenses by Year End

Another Link: Pakistan to have 3G mobile services by 2010: PTA chief

Pakistan’s five existing mobile phone companies will bid for three 3G licenses, which will be issued by the government in the last quarter of 2008, the chairman of the country’s telecom regulatory authority said Friday. “We will issue three 3G licenses to the already operational cell phone companies in the country for which bidding is expected during September to December this year. Almost all of these companies working in the country are have shown an interest in the new license,” said Shehzada Alam Malik of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. The telecommunication sector is expected to attract $2 billion annual investment in the next three years, while the number of cell phone users are likely to rise to 100 million by 2010 from the current 76 million customers, he said.

Link: Bahrain: SMS Voting Spices Up Radio, Television and Broadcasting Awards

The Radio, Television and Broadcasting Awards return this year with the introduction of a new more exciting, interactive format that enables the public to vote for their favourite personalities via SMS in some of the categories, RTB announced at a press conference earlier this week. A total of 15 types of awards are up for grabs with five of them based on popular voting through SMS, namely, Popular Actor, Popular Actress, Popular Male DJ, Popular Female DJ and Popular TV Presenter. The venue of the awards ceremony will be the International Convention Centre in Berakas on Feb 9, 2008. n annual project, the RTB Awards began in the year 2000 to show acknowledgement and appreciation to the artistes, producers, personnel and staff of RTB for their meaningful contribution to television and radio production and broadcasting. Also for the first time, the battle for Popular Deejay is expected to be more interesting with the inclusion of a private radio network, Kristal Astro. RTB said the move is to create a healthy competition among the deejays to raise the quality of the presentation and services. The voting actually opened on Jan 10, 2007. RTB said a mechanism is in place to allow only one vote from one person to avoid double counting and ensure the legitimacy of the voting. The SMS voting runs until Feb 8, 2008.

Link: Ninety percent of Lebanese GSM users send SMS and youth market tops nearly 96%

SMS has taken hold in the Lebanese market. As Lebanon’s telecoms market may well be on the way to liberalisation, Arab Advisory Group figures show that only 10% of GSM users do not use SMS – a figure that is barely 5% among the young. Findings by the Arab Advisors Group show that 89.8% of Lebanon’s GSM users report using SMS, while among the young SMS use increases to close to 96%. The statistics are part of a major new Arab Advisors Group survey of Lebanon’s cellular users, an analysis into what has been called an idiosyncratic telecoms market that is slated for liberalisation and privatization. The survey found that 12.8% of Lebanon’s GSM users share their phone lines with other members of their families. This indicates pent-up demand for cellular services in Lebanon and bodes well for the country’s mobile penetration, which is below regional levels. Lebanon Cellular Users Survey was concluded on December 15, 2007. It provides the results of a major comprehensive survey of the cellular usage patterns and habits of the population in Lebanon.One key trend that emerges from the survey is that 37.8% of Lebanon’s urban cellular users do not use the Internet. For Jawad Abbassi, Founder and General Manager of Arab Advisors Group: “This underlines the fact that the only way to reliably cover the cellular markets is through face-to-face surveys. Online surveys are suitable for analysing Internet users and usage habits but remain inherently biased and non-indicative for more main stream markets such as cellular markets.”

Link: Middle East Communications Exhibition and Conference Event 2008

As the global communications revolution makes inroads into the Middle East, the region’s enthusiasm for mobile phones, digital technology and the internet is expected to make 2008 the year of mobile operating systems, according to industry observers. Over the past three decades, the most impressive of advances in the Middle East has been in communications. Today, for example, the United Arab Emirates has what is rated as being one of the most advanced communications systems in the world. It is against this background that MECOM 2008, the 2nd Middle East Communications Exhibition and Conference takes place 26-28 May at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, the heart of one of the world’s most important markets. MECOM is held under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and is officially supported by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the UAE. While the UAE is a regional pioneer, the telecoms revolution is having a major impact in usually conservative Saudi Arabia. For example, a new survey by the Arab Advisors Group reports that more than one-third of internet users in Saudi Arabia use WiFi hotspots to log on. Additionally, 46% report accessing the internet while at work, 36% using internet cafes and 23% accessing from home. The survey also reveals that the vast majority of internet users in Saudi Arabia are using Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail for their personal email service rather than regional email providers which have less than a 10% share. “It is clear that communications infrastructures and services are playing an essential role in both the modernisation and social development of nations across the region,” said David Hirst, Exhibition and Conference Director for MECOM organisers IIR Middle East.

Link: Telco Plans Bangladesh’s Biggest IPO

Related Link: GrameenPhone to list in June

Bangladesh’s largest mobile phone operator, GrameenPhone, plans to list on the Dhaka stock exchange by June, after it holds what is expected to be the nation’s biggest IPO, an AFP report said.The AFP report said company, 62% owned by Norwegian telecom company Telenor, has more than 16 million of Bangladesh’s 32 million cellular subscribers. GrameenPhone has named Citibank as its adviser for the IPO, Bangladesh’s telecommunications regulatory body said in a statement. An announcement would be made later on the number of shares that would be sold, the regulator said. Grameen Telecom, owned by micro-finance giant Grameen Bank, set up by 2006 Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus, holds the remaining 38% of GrameenPhone, the AFP report added.

Link: Pakistan: PTCL and HBL ink bill collection accord in Pakistan

Another Link: PTCL, HBL sign accord

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL) signed an agreement for the collection of PTCL telephone bills, online funds and data transfer to facilitate its customers. As a result of this new facility, a large number of customers would greatly benefit through this speedy method to update their account with the PTCL. This would virtually eliminate the complaints regarding wrong billing and arrears. Both the customers of PTCL and the HBL would benefit from the agreement, which go a long way in the speedy disposal of complaints, improve efficiency and would result in better account management. The signing of the agreement is attributed to the HBL’s largest branch network in the country and recently enhanced systems. The agreement was signed by PTCL Senior Finance Executive Vice President Mohammed Nehmatullah Toor and Ms Sima Kamil, SEVP Corporate Banking Group HBL. Present on the occasion were Ismail Taha, SEVP HR and Administration of PTCL, Mohammed Elmugtaba Babiker, Senior Advisory Member Finance.

Link: Bahrain and India firms set up telecom venture

A new Indo-Bahrain joint venture company has been established in Bahrain to provide turnkey solutions for telecom infrastructure and areas like IT security. TVS UNEECO Networks Solutions was established as a Bahrain-based joint venture company between a major Indian IT and telecommunication solution and service provider named TVS Interconnect Systems (TVSICS), the Bahraini UNEECO Group that served the GCC market for more than 30 years, and the Bahraini Tatweer Management Systems that has vast experience within many sectors of the GCC. The mission of the new company is to provide optimised and advanced hi-tech solutions and services to the different sectors of the highly-growing GCC market, said chairman of the new company Abdulla Juma. “The company will also focus on transferring technology, recruiting and training local Bahraini engineers, and adding value through offering the latest technologies within the IT networking and telecommunication industries,” he told a Press conference at the Gulf Hotel.

Link: Pakistan poised to become lucrative market for mobile handset manufacturers

Pakistan is poised to become a lucrative market for manufacturers of mobile handsets and other telecom equipment as 20 per cent of mobile users in Pakistan change their handset thrice a year. The imports of cellular mobile sets with battery shot up have increased from 144.1 million dollar in 2004 to 670.2 million dollar in 2007. During the period, about 4.2 per cent of imports were for the telecom sector while this ratio was only 2.4 per cent in 2003. The spending of 1.347 billion dollar on import of cellular mobile handsets and other telecom apparatus last year put burden on country’s foreign reserves and caused increase in trade gap. An official from the Telecommunication Ministry said the government is in a process to offer an incentive package to foreign investors for manufacturing telecom equipment in Pakistan. He said consultations have been held with foreign investors and a special committee is finalising a package in the light of their suggestions. “The incentive package will be announced soon after its approval at the highest level,” he said, pointing out that if the plan was implemented it would be first time that the telecom equipment including mobile sets would be manufactured locally.