MyAdhan Blog

Link: Saudi Telecom deploys Airspan’s 3.5 GHz WiMAX solution

The Saudi Arabian carrier, Saudi Telecom, has deployed WiMAX services using Airspan’s HiperMAX base stations, which provide both fixed and mobile WiMAX solutions. The second phase of the award is now being activated with Airspan supplying its EasyST indoor and ProST outdoor subscriber terminals. Airspan informed that it is working with its Saudi Arabian partner, Arabian Development and Marketing Company (ADMC), to supply Saudi Telecom with WiMAX solutions. Saudi Telecom has a 3.5 GHz license covering the entire kingdom. It is deploying Airspan’s HiperMAX base stations, which is expected to enable the former to offer broadband data/internet and voice services based on an 802.16e-2005 ready WiMAX platform. This WiMAX equipment is being deployed to provide broadband wireless connections to both urban and rural areas.

Link: Saudi Arabia: Mobily profit surges 47pc to $119.5m

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s second-largest mobile phone company by market value, reported a 47.4 per cent rise in second-quarter net profit, close to the top range of analysts’ forecasts. Mobily, an affiliate of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, said the quarterly net profit was 448 million Saudi riyals ($119.5m), compared with 304m riyals in the same period last year. The earnings came close to the top range of analysts’ forecasts for Mobily’s second-quarter profit which ranged from 345m riyals to 486.4m riyals in a Reuters survey last month. Operating profit rose 24pc to 530m riyals on the back of a 25pc rise in revenues. Mobily said the rise in net profit was mainly the result of better mobile phone services and more sales outlets. Emirates Telecommunic-ations posted a 58pc jump in second-quarter profit on a capital gain it made after it reduced its stake in Mobily to 26.25pc from 35pc. The rise in Mobily’s second-quarter net profit compared with a 30pc annual increase in the first-quarter which came was both the smallest gain in quarterly profit since the firm started operations in 2005 and below all analysts’ forecasts. Mobily competes with Saudi Telecom Company, the second-largest Arab telecom firm by market value, for mobile phone users in the kingdom. Zain Saudi Arabia plans to start operations this year after selling shares to the public in the first quarter. Mobily, which did not release subscriber numbers, says it has a 39pc market share with 11.1m subscribers, its chief executive officer Khaled Al Kaf said earlier.

Link: Pakistani Operator Launches MMS Video News Clips
Another Link: Pakistanis can now get breaking news via any mobile

ROK Entertainment has announced the launch of its mobile News on Demand (NOD) service with Ufone in Pakistan. Titled as Ufone’s “Video News Service”, subscribers receive 3 videos per day of 60 seconds each, sent via MMS, containing the latest sports and breaking news for a fee of R 50/ per month. Mr. Ali Ikram, Head of VAS at Ufone commented, “At Ufone, our first and only priority is providing our customers with the best mobile services and, with the launch of Video News, we are making sure our customers get all the breaking news on their handsets anytime, anywhere, easily.” “NOD delivers short, sharp news bursts throughout the day to subscribers direct to their mobile phones” said Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK “and, as such, is a very popular support service to live and on-demand streamed mobile TV.” According to figures from the Mobile World database, Ufone (Pakistan Telecom Mobile) ended the first half of this year with some 18.1 million subscribers and a market share of 20.6%.

Link: Lebanese receive threatening mobile messages from ’state of Israel’
Another Link: Lebanese Sources Say Israel Sending Threatening Mobile Phone Messages

Israel is sending automated voice messages to mobile phones and interfering with phone lines in Beirut and southern Lebanon in what appears to be an attempt to incite the Lebanese against Hizbullah one day after a United Nations-brokered prisoner swap, Lebanese media reported on Thursday morning. Various television and radio stations said they had been receiving telephone calls from residents of Beirut and South Lebanon saying they had received threatening messages. The messages warned against allowing Hizbullah to create “a state within a state” in Lebanon and promised “harsh retaliation” for any future Hizbullah assault. The speaker is said to sign off the message with the words “The State of Israel.” A Lebanese Army source confirmed the messages and phone-line interference. Speaking to The Daily Star on Thursday, Sherif al-Husseini said he received a telephone call from an unknown number at about 8:15 a.m. Thursday. “It sounded like a tape-recorder. I heard the voice of a Lebanese man speaking Arabic. From his accent it sounded like he was from the mountains, maybe a former member of the South Lebanon Army,” a group which during the 1975-90 Civil War was allied to Israel. “The voice said ‘beware of Hizbullah and the Lebanese government. They are happy now but they are going to be shocked later. Don’t trust them because you will be surprised.’ It seemed as though he was going to give a long speech and I wasn’t in the mood to hear it so I hung up,” said Hussein. The official National News Agency reported Thursday that Telecommunications Minister Jibran Bassil wrote to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Major-General Claudio Graziano to object to what he called Israel’s “flagrant aggression against Lebanese sovereignty” and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the 34-day summer 2006 war. Bassil’s letter also demanded that the UN and peacekeeping force forward all data available on the matter to the Telecommunications Ministry. UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouzianne acknowledged receiving a copy of the letter but said the force “had no further details at this time.” Bassil, who urged every department within the Telecommunications Ministry to act accordingly to confront Israel’s infiltration of Lebanon’s telephone network, contacted President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri to inform them of the measures taken by the ministry. The Israeli government, which has not yet commented on the allegations, used similar technology during the summer 2006 war on Lebanon. Then, Israel or its allies sent text and voice messages to Lebanese mobile phones and hacked into Hizbullah’s television station Al-Manar, which it unsuccessfully tried to take off air. “I wasn’t shocked at all to receive the call,” remarked Hussein. “It’s the first time I have ever gotten such a call but the Israelis did it in the summer 2006 war. What I understood from the message is that they are angry about the prisoner exchange. The message was a sign of defeat and anger. The mother of my colleague got the call too and panicked, but I don’t think it was important. Let them shout, it won’t change what happened.” On Wednesday Israel handed over five Lebanese prisoners and began to return the remains of 200 Arab fighters who died over decades of fighting with the Jewish state. In return Israel received the bodies of two army reservists killed in a Hizbullah cross-border raid in July 2006. Israel held military funerals Thursday for Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose capture sparked the 34-day conflict.

Link: Zain offers 60% discount on SMS to Egypt on Wednesday

Zain telecommunications company said it will exclusively offer a 60 percent discount on all SMS messages to Egypt as the Arab state marks the revolution of 1952, also known as the July 23 Revolution, starting Wednesday. Zain’’s Chief Executive Marketing Officer Shafiq Al?Sayyed Omar said in a press release that the company will launch the offer midnight Wednesday and keep it for 24 hours for all bill payment and pre?paid services subscribers. He said this comes to reflect Zain’’s keenness to share in subscribers” celebrations in its belief they are the company’’s most valued asset. Zain will be the first telecommunication company to offer such a generous reduction, he added. Omar stressed Zain is an Arab company with international status, and is enthusiastic to share in national celebrations of its customers. He also extended congratulations to the Egyptian leadership, people, and embassy on this occasion.

Link: Gulf telco profits jump 58%

Etisalat, the UAE’s major telco, saw a massive 58% rise in 2Q profits, helped by an exceptional element, the sale of a portion of its Saudi Arabian affiliate (Mobily). In a trading statement, Etisalat said profit attributable to shareholders rose to 3 billion Dirhams ($817m) for the three months to June 30. Etisalat is the largest Arab telco by market value, and these results are ahead of market expectations. The sale of a portion of its Mobily stake sees its stake in the Saudi cellular operator fall from 35% to 26.25%. Etisalat now has 6.83m mobile phone customers at the end of June, up seven per cent from December 31, Etisalat said. Etisalat added about 200,000 new subscribers in the quarter. However, the business is no longer a monopoly given the launch locally of ‘Du’ (in which it holds a stake) last year. Revenues rose 21.5% to 6.38 billion Dirhams in the second quarter, Etisalat said. Etisalat, which has been expanding abroad as it faces new competition at home, said total profit excluding minority interests was 2.84 billion Dirhams compared with 1.73 billion Dirhams a year earlier./blockquote>

Link: Pakistan: PTCL workers protest countrywide

Related Links:
Landline users in a muck as PTCL staff goes on strike
PTCL workers’ unions confused over row’s end
PTCL employees to continue strike against new pay scale
Police baton charge leaves some PTCL employees injured
Police Attack on Striking Telecommunication Workers Condemned
PTCL union threatens to jam telephone system

The countrywide protests of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) employees turned violent on Tuesday after the Pakistan Rangers resorted to tear gas shelling outside the PTCL headquarters here, wounding at least two dozen people including a Rangers personnel. PTCL employees in Karachi, also staged protests and took out a rally from PTCL offices on II Chundrigar Road. PTCL employees in Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta also staged protests and took out rallies. The PTCL employees observed the strike against the Unified Pay Scales (UPS) introduced by the PTCL management. Separately, the PTCL Labour Union threatened that it would paralyse PTCL exchanges across the country from tomorrow if their demands were not met, SAMMA TV reported on Tuesday. According to the channel, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik ordered an inquiry into clashes between the Rangers and PTCL employees in Islamabad. The wounded employees refused to take medical aid at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), demanding the registration of a FIR against those responsible for “brutally beating” the protesters. PIMS doctors told reporters that around 17 people, including a Rangers personnel, were brought to the hospital and that almost all the injured were in stable condition. Tariq Pia, a PTCL employee, tried self-immolation to record his protest against the policies of the new management. Talking to reporters at PIMS, a union worker Zafar Mirza said that they had been holding peaceful protests for weeks and that the authorities were not listening to their demands. Negotiations were underway, he said, when the Rangers resorted to aerial firing and baton charged the peaceful protesters. Separately, a statement issued by the PTCL said that the UPS envisaged better remuneration package for company’s employees. They would receive, the statement added, substantial raise in salaries and that all of their service rights would be protected as per the PTCL Service Rules 1996 and the Telecom Act 1996.

Link: Pakistan: PPP to discuss privatisation of PTCL

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday announced to move parliament to investigate the alleged “scandalous privatisation” of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) by the former government. “We are going to submit an adjournment motion in the National Assembly against the PTCL’s privatisation. We will demand a special parliamentary committee to probe the country’s biggest financial scam, the registration of an FIR against former premier Shaukat Aziz and former minister Awais Leghari and their arrest,” People’s Labour Bureau (PLB) chief Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed told a news conference. He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had announced to regularise all contractual employees, adding that the telecom company rejected Information Technology Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira directives to regularise its contractual employees in line with the premier’s directives.

Link: Emirates Telecom Q2 profit soars on Saudi stake sale

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) ETEL.AD posted a 58 percent jump in second-quarter profit on Monday, topping most analysts forecasts as it profited from the sale of a stake in its Saudi affiliate. Etisalat, the largest Arab telecom company by market value, said profit attributable to shareholders rose to 3 billion dirhams ($817 million) in the three months to June 30 from 1.89 billion a year earlier. That beat two of three forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters last month, which ranged from 2.03 billion dirhams to 3.09 billion. The company sold part of its stake in Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) 7020.SE in April, reducing its shareholding in Saudi Arabia’s second mobile phone operator to 26.25 percent from 35 percent and generating a profit of 1.78 billion dirhams. “The sale of a stake in Mobily has generated an exceptional profit in the second quarter,” Etisalat Chairman Mohammed Omran told Reuters. Earnings per share rose to 0.50 dirham from 0.32 dirham a year earlier, Etisalat said, adding it made more money from new and current subscribers. Revenue rose 21.5 percent to 6.38 billion dirhams. Etisalat had 6.83 million mobile phone customers the end of June, up 7 percent from Dec. 31, Etisalat said. Most of Etisalat’s subscribers are in the UAE, home to 4.5 million people, and where many people own more than one phone.

Link: Bangladesh adds 1.66 million mobile phone users in June

Another Link: Bangladesh adds 1.66 million mobile phone users in June

Bangladesh’s six mobile phone operators signed up a total 1.66 million new subscribers in June, lifting the user base to 43.70 million in one of the Asia’s fastest-growing cellular markets, telecoms regulator data showed on Sunday. Top mobile phone company Grameenphone, majority owned by Norway’s Telenor, raised its subscriber base to 20.31 million in June from 19.58 million a month ago. No. 2 player Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s ORTE.CA Banglalink signed up 470,000 new users in June to take its total to 9.46 million. Third-ranked Aktel, majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International, added 140,000 users, taking its user base to 7.85 million at end-June. Warid Telecom International of the United Arab Emirates, which launched Bangladesh operations in May 2007, ended June with 3.31 million from 3.13 million users. The only CDMA carrier CityCell, a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited and Singapore Telecommunication, grew to 1.70 million users in June from 1.64 million in May. State-owned Teletalk’s user base stood at 1.07 million in June. 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. Impoverished Bangladesh has the lowest average monthly cost for mobile telephone use at all levels of use — low, medium, and high — for prepaid and postpaid tariff plans, according to a recent report titled ‘Mobile Benchmark Studies in South Asia and Latin America’. Mobile phone services are an important contributor to the cash-strapped nation’s economy. Several market surveys have forecast the number of mobile phone users will be around 70 million at the end of 2011. The country has just 1.27 million land-line phone customers.