MyAdhan Blog

Link: Pakistan: PTCL launch Kehdo SMS (Voice SMS)

Adding voice to the SMS takes SMS to the next generation of value. Imagine you are driving your car or rushing down the street to an appointment, and you receive a text message that requires an urgent response or imagine trying to type a response while holding onto the wheel of the car or at some point you want to share your real expression with anybody which couldn’t have done through textual message. PTCL being the largest telecom operator has been offering numerous services on its land line connections, to further facilitate its valued customer, PTCL has now decided to launch KEHDO SMS service as a value added service which will further strengthen its standard land line service and hence will ensure its commitment to its subscribers for better service. Subscribers can use this service for sharing emotions and to give important messages to others using their standard telephone landline, besides it doesn’t need any activation, user just have to dial a code followed by a recipient telephone number (with area/access code) after that system will prompt different options for the user. Your land line is not giving the quality voice only rather it is giving the innovative services and features as well.

Link: Bangladesh Grameenphone tops 20 million mobile users

Bangladesh’s top mobile phone carrier Grameenphone, majority owned-by Norway’s Telenor, said on Monday the number of its subscribers has passed 20 million after rising more than 21 percent since January. Grameenphone invested more than $500 million in 2007 expanding its business. “We are humbled by the trust placed on Grameenphone by more than 20 million subscribers,” said Anders Jensen, chief executive of Grameenphone. “Grameenphone’s premium brand image for providing the best quality network, innovative and useful products and services, and ensuring committed customer service are the main pillars of our success,” he added. Bangladesh’s mobile phone sector has been growing rapidly, with the number of subscribers reaching more than 42 million at the end of May from only 200,000 in 2001, helped by competitive tariffs and cheap handsets. The number is expected to pass 70 million by 2011 as competition in the sector heats up, analysts have said. Grameenphone’s competitors include Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s ORTE.CA Banglalink, AKtel, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International, CityCell, a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom and Singapore Telecommunications, and Gulf-based Warid Telecom and state-run Teletalk. Although nearly half of Bangladesh’s population of more than 140 million people are still below poverty line, the country has been one of world’s fastest growing cellular markets.

Link:Kuwait: Noortel’s offer 95.2 percent subscribed, closes June 29

Private placement of Noortel will close on June 29, and 95.2 per cent out of the total capital, has already been subscribed, says Ayman Al-Bannaw, an official of the company. Affirming that the deadline for subscription will not be extended, Al-Bannan told a press conference that investors should buy a minimum of 25,000 shares and that they can be obtained at any of the KFH outlets. Al-Bannaw said Noortel will begin operations in the last quarter of 2008 and although the operations of the company are diversified, telecommunication sector remains the company’s mainstay. Noting that the Noortel is focusing on emerging markets, he said the company is exploring investment opportunities in India, China and Pakistan and added that the company is presently the largest share holder of Misssan bank, an Islamic bank in Pakistan. “We believe there are lots of investment opportunities in the region and we would like to capitalize on them as much as we can. All investment opportunities are undertaken by Noor Investment, which then presents them to the board members of Noortel for their consideration. Noortel is also looking at some investment opportunities in Kuwait,” he added. Regionally, he said, Noortel is eyeing to become a major telecom player by investing in different telecommunication domains such GSM, ISP services, telecom infrastructure, value added services, among others in addition to building synergies among telecom companies. Al-Bannaw said Noortel has invested in telecom companies in Europe, which offer cutting edge technologies with the aim of utilizing the same in the region and added that the European companies have tremendous investment potential in the region.

Link: Bangladesh: High price for new frequencies puts mobile operators in dilemma

The country’s top three mobile operators are in a dilemma over whether to add new frequencies as the telecom regulator has set a price of Tk100crore per MHz per year, a massive increase on previously. Responding to the mobile operators plea for additional frequencies in order to improve their services and cope with the rapid growth in users, the telecom regulator BTRC decided to allocate 17.6 MHz to them last week. However the operators have been shocked by the price. Previously they were paying between 3-4 crore per MHz. BTRC sources said the country’s three leading mobile operators Grameenphone, Banglalink and Aktel applied to Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC) last month. “Certainly, we need additional frequencies to improve our network quality. But the price that BTRC claimed will definitely be a burden for us,” said a high official of a mobile phone operator. However BTRC officials said the price that is being offered to the operators is not so high compared to other countries. “Frequency is a natural resource and a nation’s asset, and should be sold at a fair price,” a high official of the telecom regulator said. He said at one time BTRC allocated frequencies free of cost, adding that the decision was a wrong one as obtaining frequencies in other countries entails high costs. According to BTRC sources, on the basis of their existing customer base Grameen may get 7.5 MHz, Banglalink 5.1MHz and Aktel 5MHz, respectively, in addition to their existing frequencies. If these operators add new frequencies, the amount of Banglalink and AKTEL’s frequencies will be 17.5Mhz and 17.8Mhz respectively.
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Link: Kuwaiti bank to finance sale of Iraqi mobile phone firm

More Links:
NBK raises $1.2 bn for Zain to buy Orascom’s Iraqi unit
Kuwaiti bank to finance sale of Iraqi mobile phone firm

The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced Monday a finance package to support the sale of Iraqna, the Iraqi mobile phone unit owned by the Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom, to Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) for 1.2 billion dollars. ‘NBK formed a syndicate of 12 regional and international banks, and successfully raised 1.8 billion dollars, 150 percent more than the deal size, on behalf of Orascom Telecom,’ the bank said in a statement posted on its website. The US-led interim authority, which ran Iraq after the collapse of the former regime in 2003, sold licenses for the building of mobile phone networks to Orascom Telecom, Zain and a another Kuwait firm, the National Mobile telecommunications Co. Only Zain’s subsidiary MTC-Atheer retained its licence after an Iraqi government auction in August. Orascom’s licence went to a Kurdish Korek group for 1.25 billion dollars. Both firms later formed a joint venture worth 2.2 billion dollars, under which Korek was allowed to use the infrastructure of Orascom, the fourth largest Arab telecommunication firm. In December, Zain announced it would buy Iraqna through its subsidiary MTC-Atheer. ‘Zain will pay for the deal in two tranches of 600 million dollars each, one in 2008 and one in 2009,’ NBK said. The acquisition would give the Kuwaiti firm a total of seven million customers in Iraq, Zaini said in a statement last year. Iraq’s fixed-line telephone network was damaged by decades of wars and international sanctions, which made people increasingly dependent on cell phones. By the end of 2006, there were around eight million mobile phone users in a country with a population of 26 million, according to Iraqi government figures.

Link: Telekom Malaysia eyes 3G deal

Telekom Malaysia is working out a deal with Idea Cellular to roll out third generation (3G) mobile services in India when the policy is in place, sources said. With 3G services holding huge potential for revenue generation for telecom companies, Telekom Malaysia is eager to have its share in the pie. 3G services are high-end value added offerings such as real-time transactions, video streaming, voice and data services. However, at present, there is no clarity over the issue of allowing foreign players to bid for 3G licence and spectrum. While the department of telecom and the finance ministry are in favour of a global 3G auction, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India wants to limit the auction to domestic mobile operators. Telekom Malaysia is also negotiating with B.K. Modi-owned Spice Mobiles to get mobile handsets from Spice that cost less than $15 for its international operations. It is planning to use cheap mobile phones to increase its market share in developing countries such as Egypt and Bangladesh where mobile penetration is fairly low at around 18-20 per cent, analysts said. They added that the proposed agreement would not only help the Malaysian firm but also boost Spice Mobiles’ reach in countries where Telekom Malaysia has a presence. Sources said Idea, Spice Communications and Telekom Malaysia are working on a deal, under which Idea would buy out B. K. Modi’s 40.8 per cent share in Spice Telecom for Rs 77 a share. This would be followed by an open offer to the 70,000 Spice shareholders, who hold 138 million shares (20 per cent) in Spice Communications, in line with Securities and Exchange Board of India guidelines.

Link: Pakistan: Raids on retailers selling SIMs illegally

Many retailers were arrested and hundreds of SIMs being sold illegally seized during raids conducted by teams of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Saturday. In third phase of drive against illegal sale of SIMs, the PTA teams along with the area police made raids in Mehmoodabad, surrounding markets of Cantonment Railway Station, Akhtar Colony, Manzoor Colony, Old Numaish, Patel Para, Soldier Bazaar, Garden and Sindhi Muslim Society. They arrested many shopkeepers and recovered hundreds of SIMs of different companies being sold without following laid down procedure, a PTA statement said. PTA Director (Sindh Zone), Rizwan Haider, said successful raids were made with special help of home secretary and DIG police. PTA through advertisements had repeatedly warned those involved in illegal sale of SIMs, not to sell them to any customer without having proper identification and having given authority. The director described it is PTA’s policy that SIMs can only be sold through sales centre, franchiser or authorised dealers of concerned company. It is mandatory to witness original identity card of customer, collect its photostat copy and fill up his bio-data in sale examination form. He said selling any SIM sans complete bio-data of customer was a crime, adding warned PTA reserved right to take action, if the same was proved.

Link: Malaysia: SMS scam fraudsters usually use foreign telephone numbers

OVER the last month, Maxis has received about 100 queries via the donotdisturb@maxis.com.my about hoax SMS contests carrying the Maxis or Hotlink name. These queries were mainly to verify if the SMSes were genuine. “These messages have been in circulation in the past. They have misled many mobile subscribers, not just Maxis or Hotlink customers,” said Maxis Communications head of product development and infotainment T. Kugan. He said Maxis took the issue of spam and hoax SMS very seriously. “We have in the past taken a proactive position in alerting and educating our customers on spam SMS and dubious SMS contests promising handsome cash rewards. “In September last year, we installed the Maxis anti-spam platform. “This works as a firewall that blocks out spam and hoax SMSes based on keyword identification. “It stops unsolicited SMSes from reaching our customers. “Since the installation of the anti-spam platform, an average of a million spam and hoax SMSes per month have been blocked.” But offenders often looked for ways to circumvent the system, Kugan said, and sometimes some of these messages slipped past its blocking mechanism. “Because of this, we have a dedicated communication channel donotdisturb@maxis.com.my for customers to contact us about questionable SMSes. “Maxis investigates all complaints and adds new hoax SMS cases to our anti-spam platform’s database for future auto-blocking. “Usually, these SMSes feature a foreign phone number for the recipient to respond to. “This is an indication that the SMS could not have originated from Maxis or Hotlink. Customers are urged not to call these numbers.” He added that any SMS from Maxis or Hotlink would be sent from the Maxis sender ID, which is “Maxis” or “Hotlink”.

Link: Qatar: Qtel offers SMS translation

Another Link: Qtel launches SMS translation service

Qtel has launched a new service called Tarjim, an SMS-based translation service which enables customers to translate words and short phrases from English into Arabic and vice versa, reported The Peninsula. Customers have to send an SMS with an English or Arabic word or phrase to 2422 and they will receive the translation via SMS.

Link: Emirates NBD launches SMS payments

Emirates NBD announced the extension of its SMS Mobile Banking Services across the UAE to provide easy utility payment for various bills issued by governmental and nongovernmental companies such as: Etisalat, SALIK, RTA, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), Al Ain Distribution Company (AADC) and Empower. Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Emirates NBD General Manager Consumer Banking and Wealth Management commented, “Emirates NBD has once again increased its portfolio of payment options for the convenience and delight of all residents across the UAE. It is our pleasure to constantly update our services to get closer to the aspirations and requirements of our clients and hence, in line with our strategy to be the UAE’s number one banking choice.” Emirates Bank SMS Mobile Banking service traditionally offered customers a convenient and personalized way to keep track of their banking and now, the newly expanded service allows various utility bill payments to be settled using SMS. Customers can choose the service they would like to be alerted about such as SMS, customers are alerted of activities on their accounts and credit cards made through any channel. The SMS service is available in both English and Arabic, also allows customers to send messages to the bank as well as receive messages from the bank- requesting account and credit card information, exchange rates, or mini-statements. Mohammed Saif Al Falasi, Emirates NBD Head of Alternative Channels commented on the recently added payment channels saying, “SMS Banking Service is an easy and convenient way for customers to meet their banking requirements as now, all UAE residents will have the flexibility to use mobile banking channel, wherever and whenever is convenient for them. We are confident that the SMS Banking service will prove very popular with most of our clientele.”