MyAdhan Blog

Link: Lebanese minister vows to prosecute cell-line scalpers

Telecommunication Minister Jebran Bassil warned Monday that his ministry would prosecute any shop that sells prepaid cellular cards at prices above the official rates. In a statement to the press, the minister said the price of a new Alfa prepaid card is $50 while MTC Touch is $51.70, adding that any person who sells these cards above these official rates will be legally prosecuted. There are 27 certified distributors for Alfa and MTC Touch prepaid cards in Lebanon. But customers have complained that the shops selling new pre-paid cards are charging prices ranging from $100 to more than $150. It is estimated that over 70 percent of the 1.2 million mobile subscribers use prepaid cards. The statement asked citizens and consumers to contact the Telecommunications Ministry at 01/979373 during the office hours to file complaints against any person or shop which sells the prepaid cards above the official rates. But a shop owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Star that it would be nearly impossible to enforce the decision, as there are hundreds of outlets across Lebanon which sell the new prepaid cards above the official rates.

Link: Pakistan: PTCL accepts workers demands, strike ends

Related Link: PTCL-workers stand-off ends

The two-week tussle between the Pakistan Telecommunication Company and its employees ended when the management accepted the latter’s demands on Wednesday. Soon after the management’s decision, the PTCL United Workers Alliance called off its nationwide strike that had disrupted phone service and rendered more than half a million fixed line connections non-functional. The management issued notifications to regularise contractual employees on the New Compensation Pay Grade (NCPG) and increase the salaries by 35 per cent. A representative of the alliance, Malik Habib, said PTCL president Walid Arshad “understands our concerns and we pledge to work for improving the company’s services and image”. Other union leaders, including Hassan Rana, Sardar Aurangzeb and Chaudhry Imran Aziz, promised to attend to complaints made during the strike. The employees had taken over the lawns and driveways of the company’s headquarters last week and threatened to jam its network if their demands were not met. The issue was resolved after negotiations among the management, union leaders and the government.

Link: Pakistan: PTCL workers continue strike

More Links:
PTCL GM suspended as protesters storm HQ
PTCL employees give govt 48 hours to meet demands
Striking PTCL employees could jam communication lines

Workers of Pakistan Telecommunication Company continued their protest on Monday in many cities and towns of the province in protest against introduction of unified pay scale scheme by the company management. The management has far not responded to their demand for withdrawal of unified pay scale (UPS), which the workers and CBA union leaders said was aimed at changing cadre of regular employees. Workers in Hyderabad went to office but did not do work. They gathered on the main road outside the old Central Telegraph Office (CTO) compound and staged protest. Central deputy chief organiser of Pakistan Telecommunication Employees Union (PTEU) CBA Shakeel Ahmed Khan, central joint secretary Shafi Mallah and central vice-chairman Ghaffar Sheikh said they would not budge from the principled stand. They said that at the time of privatisation of PTCL the union was assured that the cadre of regular employees would not be changed and no regular employee would be sacked. When Etesalat backed out of the deal the then Privatisation Commission Chairman Hafeez Sheikh went to Dubai and reportedly signed another agreement with the company whose contents had not been disclosed since then. They said that PTCL management asked CBA leaders to first call off strike and then it would invite them to negotiations but the leaders stressed that first the management should invite them to talks and then they would call off strike after the demands had been accepted. In Larkana, PTCL workers locked offices and phone exchanges and held a demonstration at the main gate of old phone exchange building. Zulfikar Sangi, chairman of the union, and other labour leaders urged the PTCL bosses to take back the UPS and accept their charter of demands. They threatened to jam telecommunications system, give call for a countrywide protest and encircle PTCL headquarters in Islamabad. PTCL employees in Shahdadkot also observed strike.

Link: Junk SMS: customers’ nemesis a norm in UAE

Junk SMS-weary customers in the UAE have no choice but to bear the menace of unwanted promotional material on their cell phones. Though a nuisance, say customers, companies promoting products through the four-code short message services (SMS) has become a norm in the UAE. “It is known as the value-SMS service and is a multiple promotional system in the country,” says Omar Al Muzakki, Director of Product Marketing, Etisalat. Customers accuse the service provider of compromising their privacy and passing on their phone numbers to third parties. However, Etisalat insists that it does not do that. “We respect the customers’ privacy. However, we know that companies make their own database by using names and numbers collected through lotteries and promotions. “In certain cases, we have seen exactly the same data with two companies,” says Al Muzzaki. Etisalat is only the facilitator of the service. “Companies have to obtain permission from the Ministry of Information, and upon registration with Etisalat, have to provide a copy of their trade licence that has been issued by the Ministry of Economy along with other documents,” explains Al Muzzaki. Though companies are using the Etisalat port, the service provider does not have any say in the kind of content being sent out. Strict guidelines have to be followed though, says the official. “We, of course, lay down guidelines that these companies have to follow including the SMS message being in accordance with the UAE’s religious, social and moral norms,” he explains. Al Muzzaki says that Etisalat does not take responsibility for the chat content offered by some companies. “It is just like junk mail, you either read it or delete it,” he explains. However, there is no direct monitoring of the service. du, the other service provider in the country says it has a strict policy on random SMS messages. “We have imposed strict limits on the number of times our customers receive SMS from us,” confirmed Farid Faraidooni, Executive Vice-President Commercial, du. “Messages are sent only to those who have opted for this service and further filtered to the relevant target audience with pertinent promotions that benefit them. We do not sell our database to third parties under any conditions,” said Faraidooni.

With Hajj 2008 just round the corner we are giving away another 50 FREE Pocket Hajj and Umrah Guide Books to the first people who text there name and address to 60066, making sure you start your text message with the word MYADHAN e.g. “MYADHAN Imran Iqbal, 40 Wordsworth Drive, East Didsbury, Birmingham, B1 2GF“.

The competition will be open to UK residents only and can only be entered by text message. Standard network sending charges apply. All winners will be notified by text if they have won. No response means that you’ve been unsuccessful. All winners will be announced by 1st December 2008. Good luck.

Link: Pakistan: Manipulation of stocks with SMS now a cyber crime

Manipulation of the stock exchange market through short messaging services (SMS) from mobile phones will be treated as a cyber crime, the federal government decided on Sunday. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will deal with creating disinformation about the stock markets through SMS. The government has also directed the agency to take immediate notice of such cases in future. The decision to bring the practice under the agency’s supervision comes in the backdrop of a major stock market decline last week, which saw small investors, the most affected by the slide, demonstrating violently outside the major exchanges at Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. Protesters torched car tyres and stoned doors and windows, blaming the management of failing to halt the trading despite an apparent major downward trend. The recent sharp fall was attributed to a range of factors. Most immediate was the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to remove a 1% daily limit on how far share prices could decline, bringing it back up to 5%. There was also a ban imposed on short selling. But political factors were also at play. Investors were also unnerved by reports that the United States was planning to strike inside Pakistan and the sight of the new coalition government falling apart. US air strikes into the Tribal Areas along the Afghan border paired with a rise in troop levels in Afghanistan’s eastern provinces heightened fears that Washington may act unilaterally against militants in Pakistan.

Link: Indonesia says QTel limited to 49 pct Indosat stake

A plan by Qatar Telecom (QTel) QTAL.QA to buy the remaining shares in Indonesia’s PT Indosat Tbk ISAT.JK will be blocked by a regulation limiting foreign ownership to 49 percent, officials said on Tuesday. The limit throws into doubt plans by QTel to take over Indonesia’s second-large mobile phone operator. “The limit is in accordance with the telecommunication sector regulation that limits foreign ownership at 49 percent,” said Fuad Rahmany, chairman of the capital market regulator, Bapepam. Last month, QTel bought a 40.8 percent stake in Indosat from Asia Mobile Holdings for $1.8 billion. The Qatar firm already held a 25 percent stake in Asia Mobile, while Singapore ST Telemedia had the remaining 75 percent. The deal effectively lifted QTel’s stake in Indosat from around 10 percent. Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman at Indonesia’s communications ministry, said that there was a 65 percent limit for foreign ownership for mobile phone operators and a 49 percent limit for fixed-line telecommunication companies. “But we consider Indosat a fixed-line operator so the limit is set at 49 percent. They had requested an exception but we refused since we are concerned it could become a precedent,” Broto said. Indosat’s main revenue comes from its mobile phone business, but it also has a fixed-line operation. When asked if QTel could be exempted from the 49 percent limit on foreign ownership if it tied up with a local company, Broto said the ministry would have to review the situation. “We don’t want to speculate. Even if it tied up with a local partner but it turned out that the ultimate shareholders are a foreign company then it would be meaningless,” he said.

Link: Kuwait approves carrier sale, 3rd mobile firm

Kuwait gave on Monday the final nod for the privatisation plans of loss-making Kuwait Airways Corp (KAC) and to set up a third mobile operator. Kuwait’s parliament in January approved a long-delayed government plan to sell 40 percent of the carrier to the public and 35 percent to a long-term investor within two years. “The council of ministers approved a draft decree to turn Kuwait Airways Corp into a private company,” the cabinet said in a statement after its weekly meeting. Communications Minister Abdulrahman al-Ghunaim told state news agency KUNA the privatisation was expected to be concluded at the end of next year or earlier depending on a planned evaluation of the carrier’s assets. The plan still has to be approved by the Gulf Arab state’s emir, who usually signs government-endorsed bills. Ghunaim also said the cabinet approved plans for a third mobile operator in the Gulf Arab state, of which 50 percent would be sold in an initial public offering to citizens. Saudi Telecom 7010.SE, which last year won the third mobile licence, will hold a 26 percent stake in the company which is expected to launch operations later this year. The new company, in which the government will retain a 24 percent stake, will compete with Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) and National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya), a unit of Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel).

Link: Saudi Telecom Second-Quarter Profit Rises 24% on Investments
Another Link: STC net profit rises 24pc on higher income
Another Link: Saudi telecom net second quarter profit up by 24 percent to $1.02 billion

Saudi Telecom Co., the Arab world’s largest phone company, said second-quarter profit increased 24 percent on overseas investment gains. Net income climbed to 3.84 billion riyals ($1 billion) from 3.10 billion riyals a year earlier, the Riyadh-based company said today in a filing to the Saudi stock exchange. Earnings per share for the quarter weren’t provided. First-half profit rose 18 percent to 6.86 billion riyals, Saudi Telecom also said in the filing. The company’s board agreed to pay a one riyal per share cash dividend for the second quarter. Saudi Telecom has expanded outside Saudi Arabia to counter a shrinking home market as a new competitor, Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co., or Zain, plans to start full operations in the second half. It also bought mobile-phone license in Kuwait and a 25 percent interest in Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Bhd. The Maxis stake gives Saudi Telecom access to 1.4 billion people in Asia and enables it to provide roaming services to at least 1.5 million Indians working in Saudi Arabia. In January, Saudi Telecom paid $2.56 billion for a 35 percent stake in the United Arab Emirates’s Oger Telecom Ltd., gaining access to customers in Turkey and South Africa. Saudi Telecom shares gained 2.9 percent to 61.25 riyals in Riyadh today, valuing the company at 122.5 billion riyals. The stock has declined 27 percent this year.

Link: Omantel enters $400 million agreement to boost telecom efficiency

Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) and Middle East and North Africa of Egypt have entered into an agreement to land a submarine fiber optics cable on the Omani coast to enhance telecommunications traffic between the Sultanate of Oman and the rest of the world. At a total cost of $400 million, Dr. Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Wohaibi, CEO of Omantel, pointed out that the MENA Cable Project would provide great services for international telecommunications traffic. Fiber optics would benefit Internet connectivity in case of cable cutoffs, provide alternative lines for international telecommunication networks and offer upgradeable transmission facilities. The 8000-kilometer long cable, which will provide a total capacity of 5.7 terabits, is expected to arrive at Wilayat Al Seeb, where Omantel Submarine Cables Center is located, during the third quarter of 2009. Dr. Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Wohaibi mentioned that the MENA Cable Project will benefit the telecommunication sector as a whole, as the cables will pass through other countries besides Oman, including Italy, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India. Omantel is the sole integrated telecommunications services provider in Oman and has recently jointed 15 international telecommunication companies in signing the Europe-India Gateway project. Estimated to cost $700 million, the project will see the building of an international broadband fiber optics submarine cable extending from the United Kingdom to India.