MyAdhan Blog

Link: Atheeb Awards Motorola $165 Million Nationwide WiMAX Contract for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Motorola, Inc. today announced a $165 million WiMAX 802.16e infrastructure contract with Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Company (Atheeb) that will enable the new service provider to offer compelling and unique broadband services to subscribers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Atheeb selected Motorola based on Motorola’s global leadership and ability to deliver a fully integrated end-to-end nationwide WiMAX solution. The contract includes the delivery of Motorola’s new WAP 800 access point, featuring smart antenna technology, plus a comprehensive service package including end-to-end delivery of network planning, installation, optimization and support services. Broadband will be available to customers across the Kingdom, reaching into areas of demand that until now have been underserved. Ali Amer, vice president, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility said, “Motorola is delighted to be working side by side with Atheeb to address the appetite of Saudi customers for high-speed communications. This will be delivered utilizing Motorola’s leading, cost- effective, and proven WiMAX 802.16e technology and services. Users demand connectivity whether they’re at home or in the office, and Motorola is excited to work with Atheeb to meet this from concept to reality.” Motorola is a global leader in WiMAX with 19 WiMAX contracts and more than 75 engagements in 44 countries worldwide. The WAP 800 access point technology to be deployed with Atheeb has 4 transmit and 8 receive antennas per sector providing optimal coverage and uplink data performance.

Link: Pakistan: 3G spectrum auction expected in June

Auction for the licences of third generation mobile phone services is planned in June 2008 for introducing the latest telecom technology in Pakistan, The News learnt on Thursday. Sources in cellular industry and Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) informed that PTA had planned to award three licenses through competitive bidding among existing cell services only. The third generation (3G) services would enable mobile users to access high speed Internet, video calls and other value added data services. “Currently GSM is the main cellular technology in use in Pakistan, whereas WCDMA/UMTS is the preferred technology for 3G for which spectrum shall be auctioned,” sources remarked. “Since existing licenses of mobile operators are technology neutral, therefore no new license for 3G shall be issued instead spectrum shall be assigned for the remaining period of license term,” they said. Conditions for rollout payment of fees and Quality of Service (QoS) shall be added in existing licenses with assignment of spectrum. Auction methodologies ensuring fair competition would be finalised in couple of weeks. Base price for spectrum (US$ per MHz per Year) shall be derived from auction winning price of 2004 which is $291 million for 13.6 MHz GSM spectrum for 15 years. Sources informed that the Cabinet Committee for Regulatory Authority (CCRA) had allowed issuing only three 3G licences to existing cellular operators only because the cost of laying telecom infrastructure was very high. An open auction for new entrants may delay 3G launching. Thus it would be better to limit the auction to existing cellular services that already have the required infrastructure in place, they remarked. Telenor Pakistan Executive Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Irfan Wahab welcomes the advent of 3g and understands government’s ambition in this regard, but asks for a reasonable pricing/allocation mechanism. Talking to The News he said that the Telenor rationale is that growth and investment in the basic mobile infrastructure should not be sacrificed or slowed down - there are far too many people still without basic access to mobile telephony. “Right now operators are focused on investing in far flung areas and un-served populations, who need connectivity for basic services, to improve their productivity, and to reach out. If a huge fee is demanded for 3G, it will just divert this investment with limited benefits for those who are still waiting to be connected with basic voice services - their data needs being limited by lack of literacy, content, and affordability”, Irfan remarked. He requested the government to consider 3G not as a licensing opportunity but rather as allocation of additional spectrum linked with roll out obligations and not hefty upfront fee. PTA and FAB should also make additional UMTS spectrum available in order to have equitable spectrum allocation, Irfan remarked.

Link: Pakistan: Hate messages being spread in pamphlets and SMS

Protest demonstrations are being held in the city against the caricatures published by Danish newspapers, but thousands of pamphlets are also being distributed and many messages are being sent via text message and the Internet across Karachi. An A4-size pamphlet quotes the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) according to Hazrat Ali (RA) as saying, “Do not lie about me, for he who does so will burn in hell.” The pamphlet does not say which religious party or organization has issued it and is being distributed hand to hand on the streets and door to door in local areas at houses, shops, offices, mosques, madrassahs and other places. A 25-year-old clean-shaven man distributed some of these pamphlets Thursday at the signal of Nazimabad Chowrangi No. 1 on Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road. “I do not belong to any religious party or organization, but was given a pamphlet by someone who directed me to make 100 copies and distribute them among the people. I think I will be given a reward for my actions in the Hereafter,” he told Daily Times, without giving his name. He said he was a college student. He added that when distributing the pamphlet he was requesting everyone to distribute at least 100 copies of the pamphlet to others. This pamphlet contains a list of over 37 products from Denmark and asks all those who are true Muslims to boycott these products. It also asks Muslims to fight against those who degrade the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by derailing them economically, so they would not dare to repeat such a “heinous” act. All those who continued to use these products will be considered companions of those making the caricatures. The messages sent via SMS called for the boycott of over 57 Danish products as a demonstration of Muslim love for the Prophet (PBUH) and hatred for the Danish people, adding that this message should be forwarded to others to earn a reward in the Hereafter by teaching them a lesson.

Link: Emirates says first to offer inflight mobile calls

Follow Up Link: Mobile calls on Emirates flights

Follow Up Link: Hello, can you hear me? I’m on the plane

Another Follow Up Link: Emirates starts mobile phone service

Dubai-based Emirates airlines said on Thursday it has become the first carrier in the world to commercially launch an inflight mobile telephone service. It said the first authorised mobile telephone call made from a commercial flight was made on Thursday at 30,000 feet (about 9,000 metres) from an Emirates Airbus A340-300 aircraft travelling from Dubai to Casablanca. The aircraft is the first in the airline’s fleet to be fitted with the AeroMobile system, which ensures mobile telephones operate at minimum power during flights so as to not interfere with aircraft electronics. Passengers will be be allowed to make five or six calls per flight and will also be able to send and receive text messages. Emirates, which is the largest airline in the Middle East, serves 99 cities in 62 countries. It is owned by the government of Dubai, which a booming member of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates and is positioning itself as a global travel hub.

Link: Telecom Sector Saudi Arabia Economic and Strategic Outlook

In July 2004, a consortium headed by Etisalat of the UAE won the Saudi second GSM license outbidding seven other operators with an offer of SR12.21bn (US$3.26bn). The 20-year license was complemented in August 2004 with a 3G concession for US$200mn. Etihad Etisalat operating under the Mobily banner launched operations in Saudi Arabia on the 24th of May 2005. In July 2005, STC was awarded the second 3G license for US$201mn to start offering 3G services by December 2006. Fixed telephone lines approached 3.95mn at the end of 2006, 75% of which were residential lines (3mn). This represents a population tele-density of 16.68% and a household tele-density (percentage of households with a telephone) of around 70%, or 70 residential phones for every 100 households. Currently, the wire-line market is a virtual monopoly with STC being the only fixed line services provider in the Kingdom. The monopoly of STC is being scrapped as the Kingdom has awarded three newly licenses to Batelco (Bahrain), PCCW (Hong Kong) and Verizon (US). In the Mobile market, the start of competition in 2005 has resulted in major developments in terms of subscriber growth, service offerings, quality of service, customer care and reduced prices. The number of subscribers has more than doubled in just two years from 9.2mn in 2004 (40% penetration) to around 19.6mn (over 81% penetration) in 2006. The cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) during the last five years (2001-2006) amounted to around 51% annually. In 2006, Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to implement mobile number portability, when MNP service was launched at no-cost to all mobile subscribers in the Kingdom. Internet users grew from around 1mn in 2001 to an estimated 4.65n by the end of 2006 (a penetration rate of around 19.6%). This corresponds to a cumulative average growth rate of around 36% annually. Broadband subscribers have grown from 14 thousand in 2001, to around 220 thousand at the end of 2006. This represents a growth rate of around 85% annually, with 2006 witnessing a big jump of 240%. Despite the high growth, however, broadband penetration rate of around 1% is still very low compared to both the world average of around 5%, and the developed countries’ average of around 20%. As a result, there is still a huge growth potential for broadband service in the Kingdom. A large unmet demand exists because of supply side limitations. This demand is forecasted to grow at a fast rate, offering attractive opportunities for broadband network and service expansion in the Kingdom. Telecom service revenues have been steadily growing at a cumulative average rate of around 15% annually, increasing from SR19.8bn in 2001 to around SR40bn in 2006. Mobile revenues represented around 75% of all sector revenues (which is in line with trends in other countries).
Source : Communications and Information Technology commission & Global Research

Link: Kuwait: Javna, Zain launch MobiAd service

Zain Al Urdun, a subsidiary of the mobile phone services provider Zain, has launched mobile advertising services in cooperation with Jordan’s Javna. The MobiAd platform allows advertisers to define the age range, sex and location of the targeted segment, among other attributes that can optimise the advertising campaign. Each customer can select the channels that best fit their interests and in return, subscribers will receive one or more of an array of rewards like free minutes for local or international calls, free SMS messages and gifts from the advertisers, in addition to a periodical drawing for prizes for ads recipients. The technology is based on interactive services through multiple delivery channels starting from SMS, MMS, rings and images to flash interfaces that appear when a call is received or made by the user. These marketing tools can be programmed to appear regularly on set dates and times.

Link: Zain prepares IPO in Bahrain

Kuwaiti mobile operator Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) is preparing an initial public offering in Bahrain before the end of June, a newspaper said on Sunday. Kuwaiti daily Al Anba said in an unsourced report that Zain, the third-largest Arab telecoms company by market value, had not decided yet on the volume of the offering. A spokesman for Zain said the company’s Bahrain license included a clause to have an initial public offering on the Manama bourse but it still needed some time for preparations and to get some listing exemptions. Analysts have said Zain, which is listed in Kuwait, might become the biggest stock on the Bahrain bourse. Shares in Zain Saudi Arabia are due to start trading on Saturday following the firm’s IPO there, Al Riyadh newspaper said.

Link: Umniah launches voice SMS service to Palestine

Jordan’s pioneering provider of telecommunication services, Umniah, recently announced the launch of its innovative International Voice Short Message service (SMS) to Palestine. Granting its subscribers the opportunity to send voice SMS messages to relatives and friends living in Palestine, Umniah is now strengthening its position as a provider of services that match the varied needs of modern times, said a top official. “Through this innovative service, Umniah subscribers have the opportunity to record a 30-second voice SMS and send it to their relatives and friends in Palestine who are subscribers of Jawal GSM Operator,” noted Umniah’s VAS and roaming manager Mohammad Serieh. This SMS will be sent as a multimedia message (MMS) to the Jawal subscriber who in turn will be able to listen to the voice message. The senders need to dial (*) before the number requested. And they may start recording their message after the tone. The price of each voice SMS is 10 piaster’s only with no additional subscription fees required. The new service targets sectors of the community who would otherwise find it challenging to send regular SMS messages. Proving to be especially convenient to senior citizens, this service reiterates Umniah’s ongoing quest to introduce new, convenient and innovative means of communication to both local and regional market sectors, he added. Serieh said that the company is thrilled to be launching this new service. “Being the first in the region to launch the Voice SMS solution, we are proud to be presenting our subscribers this innovative new mean of communication with their relatives and friends in Palestine.” “We have found that the voice SMS presents itself as the more expressive means of communication especially for those sectors of the community who would otherwise find it challenging to type text messages and read them. For the traveler this service quenches the feelings of nostalgia as it allows him or her to hear the voices of loved ones,” he explained.

Link: UAE telecom group launches mobile operation in Nigeria

Another Link: Etisalat Mobile Launched In Nigeria

The main telecom operator in the United Arab Emirates, Etisalat, has launched mobile services in Nigeria, becoming the fifth operator in the oil-rich west African country, officials said Saturday. Managing director Saoud Al Shamsi said Etisalat got the operating licence in Africa’s most populous country of 140 million people after paying 400 million dollars through its partners Mubadala Development Company in January 2007. Four other telecom firms, including South Africa’s MTN, with a combined subscriber base of around 30 million, are operating in the country.

Link: Iran can watch TV on cell phones

Cell phones bring TV services to Iranian mobile users, utilising the latest technology in Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H).Mobile TV via cellular networks allows viewers to enjoy personalized, interactive TV, with content specifically adapted to the mobile medium. The service brings ten television and four radio channels to mobile phones including the 24-hour English-language news channel Press TV. “Downloaded images using DVB-H system allows for a much higher quality when compared with downloads using an analogue system,” Ezzatollah Zarghami, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) said. “The project has started in the Iranian capital of Tehran but soon will be available in the entire country.” After Qatar, Iran is the first Middle Eastern country to implement such technology.