MyAdhan Blog

Link: UAE: Commuters on the streets can now hail taxis by SMS

Passengers in Dubai no longer have to go through the daunting task of hailing a taxi on the road as they can now call one by just sending an SMS from their mobile phones, said a senior official. The service has been designed for passengers who want to order taxis while waiting by the road, said Abdul Aziz Malek, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dubai Taxi Agency at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). He said the taxi agency is installing small boards with location code numbers and a taxi sign on them by the side of the road. A passenger can send an SMS to 4774, mentioning the area code on the taxi board. The customer will have to wait in the same location until the taxi arrives. Once the commuter sends the SMS, it will reach the booking terminal of Dubai Taxi Agency and the booking supervisor will send the nearest taxi to the customer. The booking terminal will also send the taxi reservation number to the customer, which he needs to show to the taxi driver before boarding. The starting fare for taxis booked via SMS will be Dh6 during the day (from 6am to 10pm) and Dh7 at night (from 10pm to 6am). In addition to the new service, Dubai Taxi Agency will continue to offer reservations via telephone and the internet. “The new service has been launched after complaints from commuters about hailing a cab while waiting by the roadside,” said Malek. Currently, Dubai has around 6,500, taxis including 3,200 run by Dubai Taxi Agency.

Opinion: Egypt: Government in state of denial

A handful of countries in this world still think that the best way of dealing with internal problems is to pretend they don’t exist. Shut the doors, damn freedom of expression, issue denials, set security forces against everyone, and tomorrow will be another day — or so they think. In a recent article in Al-Ahram, a senior National Democratic Party (NDP) figure debunks this whole attitude. He notes that the world gets its information about Egypt not from official statements, but from international reports released by various agencies, research centres, and civil society organisations. In other words, let’s drop the pretence. When the recent riots took place in Mahala Al-Kubra, the government reacted in its usual manner, blaming the Internet, mobile phones, and “the deviant few” for the protests. No matter that the protests were triggered by an international crisis involving a rise in food prices on a global scale. No matter that other Third World countries, not just us, are experiencing the same kind of turmoil. No matter that international organisations have acknowledged the problem as a global issue. No matter that the IMF chief told a meeting of world finance ministers that the crisis could undermine the stability of various governments around the world and can only be tackled with loans and aid, at least in the short run. Our government had already made up its mind. The pro-government media obliged with accusations, raining insults on the opposition while ignoring the cause of the problem. Reacting to riots that broke out in Indonesia, the Philippines, Haiti, Algeria, Morocco, and elsewhere, Jacques Diouf, director- general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), urged the creation of financial mechanisms to enable poor countries to import food and enhance their agricultural production. The whole world is aware of the current crisis and how it affects developing countries. Experts have explained the crisis, citing increased consumption in China and India and the growing production of organic fuel as the main reasons. Their assessment is objective and their views unambiguous. A reasonable government could have explored its options accordingly, but not ours. In Egypt, we have another way of doing things. Instead of explaining the situation to the public, the pro-government media lashed out at Internet users, mobile phone owners, satellite television viewers, bloggers, and FaceBook subscribers. The riots in Mahala Al-Kubra, the bread lines, and the rise in food prices were apparently conspiracies designed by all of the above, at least according to many of our esteemed writers. For icing on the cake, some writers asked the communications regulatory body to design a system to end all “insidious rumours”. Some even suggested that the state should abandon its quest to make Internet and computers more accessible to the population at large. Great! Now the whole world would be using the digital revolution to enhance knowledge, promote science, and encourage political participation, and we would be heading the other way. Some people within the NDP and the government are seemingly eager to clamp down on the Internet and text messaging. They want authorities to set up an Internet police to go after certain users of cyberspace. Fortunately, it is hard, if not impossible to do so, as our minister of communications should have told them. The Internet and the recent riots are totally unrelated matters. Those who see a connection between the two have taken leave of their senses. The Internet is not our problem; those who look for scapegoats are. There are people in this country who hate freedom, dread change, and want us to live in fear. They are the ones we need to worry about, not the bloggers.

Link: Saudi Arabia: Mobily profit grows 30% to $86.9 million

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) posted a 30 per cent rise in first-quarter profit on growth of its mobile phone business, but missed all analysts’ forecasts as it braces for greater competition in Saudi Arabia. Mobily made 326 million riyals ($86.9m), or 0.65 riyals per share, in the three months ended on March 31, compared with 251m riyals, or 0.5 riyals per share, a year earlier. That was the smallest gain in quarterly profit since the firm started operations in 2005. First-quarter profit missed four forecasts of analysts in a Reuters net profit survey last month that ranged from 335.1m to 529m riyals. Revenue rose 23pc to 2.31 billion riyals - also the smallest rise since its inception - while operating profit grew 17pc to 371m riyals. Profit growth resulted from “putting the emphasis on developing mobile phone services inside the kingdom, increasing the sales outlets and developing customer service,” Mobily said. Mobily shares were unchanged on Wednesday, the last trading day, at 60.5 riyals, 33pc below a 91.4-riyal price target set by HSBC in February. HSBC had raised its target price from 81.3 riyals, citing the contribution from broadband internet services, even though it said over all subscriber growth appeared slower than expected. Mobily competes with incumbent Saudi Telecom Company, the largest Arab telecom firm by market value, for mobile phone users in the kingdom. Zain Saudi Arabia, an affiliate of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain), plans to start operations this year after selling shares to the public in the first quarter. Mobily, which did not release subscriber numbers, claims a 39pc market share with 11.1m subscribers, its chief executive officer Khaled Al Kaf said. Mobile phone penetration in the largest Arab economy probably exceeds 100pc. Saudi mobile phone operators may be generating 55bn riyals in revenue in 2010, 38pc more than 2006, the kingdom’s telecom ministry said. Mobily’s stock has fallen almost 18pc this year, underperforming the index, which is down about 13pc. Emirates Telecommunications Corporation owns 26.25pc in Mobily, having sold an 8.74pc stake in the firm at 55 riyals per share this year.

Link: Etisalat Voice SMS on Kirusa platform gets excellent response across UAE

Etisalat, the leading telecommunications carrier and Internet Service Provider in UAE, has chosen the Kirusa Voice SMS solution for offering the Voice SMS service to their subscribers in the UAE. With the launch of this service, an Etisalat subscriber has the option of sending an SMS message in their own voice. Etisalat’s Voice SMS, launched in November 2007 before Eid festival so that mobile customers could send greetings, has been a success with over half a million Voice SMS messages having been sent within 5 days of Eid holidays. This phenomenal adoption of Voice SMS service by Etisalat UAE subscribers demonstrates its success in multilingual mobile markets. The Kirusa Voice SMS service does not require any handset specifications or settings for using this service. To send a message, simply dial * (star) followed by the recipient’s phone number, and press the call button then record your message after the tone and disconnect or press any key to hear more options. The recipient gets an SMS message and can retrieve the message by dialing *0*. Old messages can be retrieved by dialing *1*. Etisalat has a customer penetration of 150% per cent, a remarkable figure regionally and internationally. The availability of Voice SMS will help Etisalat to leverage the service to maintain its leadership position. The Kirusa Voice SMS platform enables Etisalat to cost effectively deploy additional revenue generating services that seamlessly combine voice with text, graphics, and video to deliver dramatically enhanced end user mobile experiences. To deliver the Voice SMS solution to Etisalat, Kirusa has deployed its Voice SMS application and multimodal platform, integrated with HP OpenCall Media Platform, in the Etisalat network in Abu Dhabi. Kirusa has partnered with Emircom, an ICT solutions company based in Abu Dhabi, for the delivery and support of the solution. Commenting on the announcement, Khalifa Al Shamsi, Vice President Marketing / Consumer & SMB, Etisalat said, “Etisalat has always been a pioneer in identifying new ways for its customer to reach out and experience the best services and technologies across the globe. Our focus has always been to create a great customer experience. This is why we announced the launch of the compelling Voice SMS service. We are sure our customers will find it easy to use and enjoy the benefits of voice communication without the sense of immediacy that tends to go with a voice call.” Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick, Founder and CEO, Kirusa said, “The Kirusa Voice SMS application has been very well received by mobile users in South Asia, and we are delighted that the leading carrier in Middle East has chosen to work with Kirusa to bring the benefits of Voice SMS messaging to people in UAE. Etisalat will also be able to benefit from our large installed base in South Asia, enabling the entire expatriate population to have cost effective communication with their friends and families back home.”

Link: Pakistan: Poor service forces customers to demand landline disconnection

Hundreds of people across the city have reportedly submitted applications to their respective telephone exchanges to permanently disconnect their landline numbers as the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has failed to provide quality service to consumers for the last many months. The consumers claimed that their telephones were out of order for the last four to five months and despite submitting applications, visiting the telephone exchange(s) and holding meetings with the divisional engineers and general managers, the issue of faulty connections remains unaddressed. According to the PTCL consumers, they are not only paying the fixed line rent of the dead telephone lines, but also paying other charges under the Pakistan Package and other services introduced by the PTCL management without the consent of the consumers. According to them, the charges amounted to Rs230 to Rs650 in addition to the fixed line rent. A survey conducted by The News in the various towns of the metropolis revealed that dead telephone lines, humming sounds, non-functional equipment at different exchanges and shortage of technical staff to entertain consumer complaints have forced many people to switch over to cellular or wireless services instead of relying on PTCL. Jalal Ahmed, a resident of Gulsitan-e-Jauhar, who has submitted an application to the telephone exchange in his area to permanently disconnect his landline number, said that his landline number has been out of order since November 2007. He said that despite his repeated complaints to the officials of the exchange concerned, nobody turned up to fix the fault. Thus, he finally decided to disconnect the line permanently. M.M. Baig, 69, another complainant from Gulistan-e-Jauhar, said that he has visited the telephone exchange several times but he was always told by the officials there that cable fault has occurred due to digging up of roads by the City District Government Karachi (CDKG) in the area. Baig, however, pointed out that no development work was being carried out in the area when the phone went out of order. Similarly, Uzair, a resident of PIB Colony, said that whenever he picks up his phone to dial a number or to attend a call, he finds that two people are already talking to each other on the line. “The problem of cross-connections is being faced by other area residents also,” he told The News. The area people approached the Pak Capital telephone exchange (Old Sabzi Mandi) to sort out the matter but to no avail, he said. Residents said that unless they bribe the lineman of the area, their problem will never be solved. The New Karachi, Orangi and Korangi telephone exchanges are reported to be among the worst service providers in the city, a senior engineer of the PTCL said on condition of anonymity. He said that other than a shortage of technical staff, the company is also faced with poor infrastructural network.

Link: Omantel acquires 65 percent shares of WorldCall

Omantel has acquired 65 percent shares of WorldCall Telecom Limited for $200 million. The finalisation of acquisition was announced in a ceremony held at a local hotel on Friday. The CEO WorldCall Mr Salmaan Taseer led the WorldCall delegation while CEO Dr Mohammed bin Ali Al Wohaibi was leading Omantel team. Pakistan Telecom Authority Chairman Major General (r) Shahzada Alam was the chief guest and Ambassador of Sultanate of Oman to Pakistan HE Mr Mohammad Bin Said Bin Mohamed AI-Lawati graced the occasion as guest of honour. According to deal, Omantel is acquiring 488.8 million (65 percent of available) shares of Worldcall. Of this, 451.2 million shares are from sponsors while 37.5 million are being purchased from the public through the securities markets. The total value of this landmark transaction is around $200 million. Speaking on the occasion, WorldCall CEO Salmaan Taseer said that it has been an immense pleasure for him to announce the acquisition. He said that WorldCall is the first company to launch payphone cards, High HFC System and local loop in the country. Mr Taseer said that Pakistan enjoys very good relations with Oman. He said that WorldCall has a significant market share in long distance and international operations, wireless local loop, metro connect for telecom and enterprise connectivity on fiber optics. The CEO of Omantel said, “The WorldCall Telecom Limited is one of the best telecommunication companies in Pakistan.” He said that there is great potential in telecommunication sector and Omantel would expand the network in Pakistan. He said that Omantel plans to escalate existing WorldCall operations to excel in telecom offerings with further enhancement of network reach and delivery capacity, targeting a rapid growth in market share. The Chairman of PTA said, “The acquisition shows that there are great opportunities for the world companies to invest in Pakistan.” He said that recently China Mobile, world’s largest cell phone company, started its operations in Pakistan. He said that in the recent years, a number of companies have invested in the country. Alam said that Omantel has taken a right decision and PTA would ensure excellent services to the telecommunication sector.Ambassador of Sultanate of Oman to Pakistan, HE Mr Mohammad Bin Said Bin Mohamed AI-Lawati congratulated both companies on signing the deal.

Link: UAE: Etisalat loses $463m in Egyptian market

Breakdown of mobile operator’s financial performance reveals cost of setting up North African subsidiary Etisalat, the UAE telecoms giant, made a loss of AED1.7bn ($463m) in Egypt in 2007, according to the first detailed breakdown of financial results for the group. The size of the losses highlights that the cost of launching a mobile phone network in Egypt has weighed down the performance of both the Egyptian subsidiary, Etisalat Misr, and the parent company. The figures were presented to analysts in the UAE in mid-April. “The company is concerned with acquiring a brand name and a market share, rather than making a profit,” says Walaa Hazem, joint head of research at Egyptian investment bank HC Securities & Investment. Etisalat won the competition to operate Egypt’s third mobile phone licence with a bid of $2.9bn in May 2006 and has built up its customer numbers quickly since then. Etisalat Misr generated AED385m in revenues from its 3.1 million customers by the end of 2007. Its share of the market is 9.8 per cent. The figures are still significantly lower than the company’s operation in Saudi Arabia, where its Etihad Etisalat subsidiary generated AED1.4bn worth of profits from revenues of AED8.3bn in 2007. Etihad Etisalat, which operates under the brand name Mobily, had 11.1 million customers at the end of December. While Mobily made a profit just 18 months after its launch in the spring of 2005, the Egyptian arm is unlikely to generate such a quick return on investment, according to Hazem. “It is difficult to compare because in Egypt it is the third operator not the second operator,” he says. “The Saudi market is also operating at higher average revenues per user.” Despite its growth in the two markets, Etisalat’s home market of the UAE is still the source of the majority of its revenues. The firm generated AED18.1bn in revenue from its domestic market in 2007. Its mobile phone business generated revenues of AED13.6bn, while its fixed-line business brought in AED3bn, and its internet business AED1.5bn.

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Link: Bangladesh adds 1.38 million mobile phone users in March 2008

Bangladesh mobile phone operators added 1.38 million new subscribers in March, lifting the user base to 38.93 million in one of Asia’s fastest growing cellular markets, telecoms regulator data showed on Wednesday. The number of mobile users rose nearly 58 percent in 2007 to 34.4 million, the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission said, helped by competitive tariffs and cheap handsets. Six cellphone providers in the impoverished country of over 140 million people registered 1.13 million customers in February. Several market surveys have forecast the number of mobile phone users will be around 50 million at the end of 2009. Top mobile phone company Grameenphone, majority owned by Norway’s Telenor, has raised its subscriber base to 17.81 million from 17.20 million in February. Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s ORTE.CA Banglalink saw its customer base grow by 430,000 to 8.31 million. Aktel, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International (TLMM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research), added 90,000 users in March, taking its user base to 7.45 million. Warid Telecom International of the United Arab Emirates, which launched Bangladesh operations in May 2007, ended March with 2.79 million from 2.60 million. CityCell, a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited and Singapore Telecommunication, grew to 1.56 million users from 1.51 million in February.

Link: Twitter is Banned in Dubai

Following the arrest and subsequent release of the UC Berkeley student of journalism who famously “Twittered” the word ARRESTED to his friends and the US Embassy so as to walk out a free man the very next day, surprisingly enough, “Twitter” has now been blocked in Dubai. Any person in Dubai trying to access the site is greeted with a message that reportedly reads, “We apologise the site you are trying to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.” Well, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) might be something else but Dubai is certainly not in that league. In fact, amongst Arab countries, Dubai is known to be far more liberal both culturally and religiously. So why the fuss? In fact, a well-known hacker in security circles, Ero Carrera, even said that this is the first time he is in a country that feels the need to block a site like Twitter. He said he would have thought sites like MySpace would be blocked as well but apparently aren’t. With Twitter allowing broadcasting messages from anywhere, from mobile phones, looks like some governments are beginning to perceive the site as some sort of threat to their sovereignty. All said, Twitter continues to remain accessible through Dubai’s airport Wifi as also through the Apple iPhone’s Twinkle application among others.

Link: Half of Saudi internet users embrace e-commerce

The Arab Advisors Group has released the results of a survey showing that e-commerce has achieved noteworthy popularity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey showed that 48.36% of internet users in the Kingdom had purchased products online or using their mobile phones in the last twelve months. That represents more than 3.5 million e-commerce customers, or 14.26% of the Kingdom’s total population. The Arab Advisors Group has estimated that these transactions totalled $3.28 billion, and says the survey yields a confidence level of 99% with a 2% margin of error. Mr. Jawad Abbassi, Founder and General Manager of Arab Advisors Group said: “Saudi Arabia’s large population, its booming economy and increased Internet adoption, provide an ideal context for a thriving e-commerce scene. Our major survey of Internet users in Saudi Arabia revealed a massive size for B2C e-commerce in the country which presents opportunities for global and regional e-commerce players to tap into this growing market.”