MyAdhan Blog

Link: Malayasia: Celcom to scrap SMS contest if there are elements of gambling

Celcom Bhd will be asked to scrap its “Celcom 100 Days, 100 Cars” promotion if it is confirmed that elements of gambling are involved, said Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor. He said the Islamic Development Department’s (Jakim) views were being sought on the matter, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission would also meet on the issue. “We need to ascertain whether the contest is permissible under law, and if it is not just a tactic to cheat the people. “Let the Commission hold its meeting, and if it is found that the contest is suitable then it can be continued. Otherwise, it has to cease,” he told reporters after visiting the Bandar Baru Bangi post office yesterday to check on cash rebates being paid to motorists. Celcom has suspended the contest following a directive from the commission, which regulates the telecommunications industry. The Commission also ordered Celcom to refund the RM5 charged per SMS sent to take part in the contest to all participants immediately. It is not known how many people have participated in the contest, which began on June 2 and open to only Celcom cellular service subscribers. There are already 11 winners listed on Celcom’s website.

Link: Pakistan: Traffic Wardens arrest two mobile snatchers

Traffic Wardens claimed to have arrested two mobile snatchers from Lorry Adda and Shafiqabad and seized stolen mobile phones from them, according to a handout issued on Saturday. Two men snatched two mobile phones from Shehbaz Ahmad, a resident of Gujranwala, at Azadi Chowk, and fled. He informed senior Traffic Warden Abdul Razzaq about the incident, who sent a message on the wireless to other traffic wardens. The traffic wardens intercepted the motorcyclists at Masti Gate but they took a turn and reached Lorry Adda where Razzaq and Traffic Wardens Raheel Karamat and Imran Yousaf captured them and handed them over to Tibbi City Police. Shehbaz Ahmad also reached the scene and identified the man whose accomplice managed to flee. Separately, Traffic Warden Ziaur Rehman nabbed Mehboob Ashraf accused of snatching a cell phone from Yasir Idrees in Shafiqabad and handed him over to Shafiqabad Police. Later the Capital City Police Officer Muhammad Pervez Rathore awarded cash prizes and commendatory certificates to the traffic wardens. Senior Superintendent of Police (Admin) Farooq Mazhar Khan and Chief Traffic Officer Ghulam Mehmood Dogar were also present on the occasion.

Link: Kuwait Finance House launches enhanced ‘SMS Baitak’ service

The enhancement offers the clients several new features. Amongst the features is the instant notification of any change in the account balance and notification of credit card transaction activity (inside or outside Kuwait) which provides clients with more sense of security and peace of mind and constant awareness of their account balances. Al Fozan pointed out in a press release that all current short SMS service subscribers (GSM Banking) will be shifted to the new service and with the same fees. As for a new subscriber, he/she can subscribe very easily through any Baitak service channel. The improvement is in line with Baitak’s strict emphasis on always offering the latest technical features in all services which results in the clients receiving the highest standards of quality, speed, and security. Al Fozan added that the policy of diversifying the service channels which allows the client to use the channel most suitable to him has proven to be very successful. Over the past period, there has been significant usage of the various technological service solutions provided. Baitak launched the all encompassing machines (alshamel) that offer depositing cash and checks and offer withdrawal. It was also the first bank in Kuwait to change its cards to the Smart Card technology and accordingly modified all its ATMs to be compatible with these new cards. In addition, the Baitak Call Center (Allo Baitak) has been enhanced substantially. More services have been added such as the voice interaction service where the client can get the information he requires by speech. Furthermore, kfh.com provides more than 140 services free, as well as other options available for site subscribers.

Link: Telekom Malaysia takes nearly 15% stake in Indian telco Idea

Telekom Malaysia is understood to have picked up a little less than 15 per cent stake in ADITYA BIRLA group company IDEA CELLULAR at a price of Rs 158 ($US3.68) a share through a preferential offer, paying above $US2 billion for the acquisition. This values the Birla company over $US10 billion. The preferential offer has been made to Telekom Malasyia (TM) at a substantial premium to the current market price of Idea Cellular. Sources said Telekom Malaysia (TM) is learnt to have paid Rs 158 a share for about 15 per cent additional stake in Idea Cellular.

Link: Pakistan: Telenor grabs second position in cellular phone market

Telenor Pakistan has surpassed Ufone to become the second biggest cellular network provider in terms of subscribers, according to the official data released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Since the year 2005 Ufone had retained its second position and was considered to be the second biggest mobile phone operator in Pakistan. Now Telenor, with 17.84 million users stands second and Ufone with 17.80 million subscribers now holds the third position. Latest figures show that the number of cellular subscribers in Pakistan has reached to 86.6 million mark with a cellular mobile density of 53.9. From the start of year 2008 both the companies were trying to take the lead and in last four months tough competition was seen between the two. The figures gathered by the telecom watchdog show that by May 2008 Mobilink led the market with 31.95 million subscribers followed by Telenor, which was serving 17.84 million people across the country. Ufone Pakistan holds the third position with 17.80 million subscribers and Warid is at the fourth with 15.11 million subscribers. Meanwhile, the aggressively marketed Zong has managed to grab 3.66 million subscribers. In the first five months of the calendar year the telecom industry managed to add 9.81 million subscribers. Telenor Pakistan launched its operations in March 2005 as the single largest direct European investment in Pakistan, setting precedence for further foreign investments in the telecom sector. In fiscal year 2006, Telenor achieved nearly 200-percent growth in subscriber base, the highest in the industry by a wide margin./blockquote>

Link: Malaysian firm suspends SMS contest on complains it resembles gambling

Malaysia’s second largest mobile phone company said Friday it has suspended a contest offering new cars to winners upon government orders following complaints that it resembles gambling. In a brief statement, Celcom Mobile Sdn. Bhd. said it would temporarily halt its “100 days, 100 cars” text messaging, or SMS, campaign “due to intervention by the regulatory authority.” The move came after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, a government agency in charge of the industry, directed Celcom to end the contest. A commission official told The Associated Press that some participants complained their phone bills had soared sharply since they were not aware of the high charge of the SMS for contest questions. Muslims also charged that the mechanism of the contest resembles gambling, which is forbidden under Islamic laws, said the official, who declined to be named citing protocol. “We found that it is a misleading promotion. We have told Celcom to end the contest and refund all participants,” the official said. Officials from Celcom, a unit of state-owned Telekom Malaysia, said they will wait for Tuesday’s ruling by Islamic authorities on whether the contest is permissible under Islam before making a final decision. Under the SMS contest running June 2 to Sept 9, subscribers who answer the most quiz questions correctly each day will win a new Toyota car. Each SMS costs 5 ringgit (US$1.56; €1.01) instead of the average 0.20 ringgit (US$0.06; €0.04). Celcom officials have defended the high cost, saying each SMS also comes with new mobile content such as ring tones for participants. “In Islam, we call this gambling. Such contests should be stopped because you pay (but you) buy nothing,” Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin, the mufti of northern Perlis state, told The AP on Friday. Ethnic Malay Muslims make up about 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a minister in charge of religious affairs, recently said companies should seek the advice of religious experts before launching such contests.

Link: Oman Mobile introduces SMS job service

Oman Mobile continues to cooperate with both the public and the private sectors to serve its subscribers and facilitate their life with smart mobile use. In line with the e-governance project that aims to digitalise knowledge and information for easy access and use, Oman Mobile teamed up with the Ministry of Civil Services to launch an SMS job announcement service for vacancies in the public sector. On this occasion, Salim Al Nasri, Oman Mobile product development manager said: “Oman Mobile supports cooperative relationships with establishments in the public and private sector.”

Link: Bahrain’s TRA study calls for balancing of rates

Related Link: Bahrain telecommunication heading for major competition

Landline telephony tariffs in the Kingdom fared well when compared to other Arab and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, but telecom major, Batelco’s current tariff structure wherein the prices of services were ‘out of line with underlying costs and international direct dial rates well above cost’ did not deliver full cost benefits to users. Similarly, leased line service tariffs in the Kingdom were ‘not competitive’ while broadband service costs remained high, especially for high speed connections, and were four times higher than the European average.
“A gradual rebalancing of rates is required to improve economic signals and facilitate competition for the benefits of consumers,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s independent price benchmarking study of telecommunications services in Arab countries revealed yesterday. The price benchmarking study undertaken by Teligen, an independent consulting firm specialised in tariff comparison was commissioned by TRA as Chair of the Arab Regulators Network to fill a gap, as no comprehensive price comparison exists for Arab countries. TRA’s General Director, Alan Horne said: “In a world where nations compete to attract businesses to promote economic development, it is paramount to offer competitively priced services. We should aim to be a leader not only within the region but also amongst the most advanced countries in the world. Meeting this aspiration necessitates continuous improvements to products and services offered and a sound regulatory approach.” The study compares baskets of telecommunications services for different consumer profiles (low, medium, high usage) and covers various services and regions, be it fixed voice, mobile services, broadband and leased lines in Arab countries and put in perspective with results for OECD countries.
Continue reading…

Link: Taleban Damage Mobile Phone Mast in Afghan South

The Taleban have damaged a telecommunication company’s mast in Zabol [Province in southern Afghanistan]. Spokesman for the Taleban Qari Mohammad Yusof Ahmadi told Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] in a telephone conversation from an undisclosed location that they had shot and damaged a mast belonging to the Afghan Wireless Communication Company [AWCC] in the Tajerabad area of Shah Joy District in Zabol Province early this morning. When the spokesman for the governor, Golab Shah Alikhel, was asked about it, he told AIP that they could not contact an AWWC mobile phone number in Shah Joy District. However, he did not give more details regarding the incident. A local resident also confirmed to AIP that armed men had damaged a telecommunication company’s mast in the Tajerabad area and the AWCC does not work now there. The Taleban warned telecommunication companies some time ago to stop their operation for a certain period of time at night, otherwise, they would attack their masts. Afterwards, the Taleban carried out attacks on a number of masts in Helmand, Kandahar, Ghazni, Zabol and some other places.

MyAdhan.com is beginning a new round of tests of it’s Prayer and Fasting times service for the USA. We really need Muslims in the USA to help test our services. If you can help us with our testing please text the word PRAYER to 70589 (US only). We currently support the following mobile networks (let us know if yours is missing):

* Alltel
* Cellular One
* Cingular Wireless
* Dobson Cellular Systems
* Midwest Wireless
* Nextel
* Sprint
* T-Mobile®
* Verizon

MyAdhan already has services live in the UK and is hoping to expand to other countries in the coming months.