MyAdhan Blog

Link: Iran prepares to launch satellite

Iran has announced that the country is set to send its first remote sensing telecommunication satellite into space in the near future. In a Saturday address in the central city of Arak, the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said sanctions have proven ineffective in obstructing Iran’s march of progress. “The Islamic Republic has now developed the technology to build satellites and will use its advanced technology to launch its first remote sensing telecommunication satellite into space,” President Ahmadinejad said. The report comes after the Wednesday announcement of the head of Iran’s Aerospace Organization that the country is preparing to send its first astronaut to space within the next decade. The country’s homemade satellite is of the most advanced technology of its kind, President Ahmadinejad continued. The Iranian president added that the country’s first homemade satellite carrier Safir 1 will help the satellite reach a speed of 8000 m/s, the highest speed satellites can reach. President Ahmadinejad cautioned global powers that their sanctions would only make the Iranian nation more determined to reach its goals. Earlier on Sunday, Iran successfully launched its first domestically manufactured satellite carrier, Safir 1, which will be used to send a lightweight telecommunications satellite, Omid (meaning ‘hope’ in Persian), into orbit. Following the successful launch of the Iranian satellite, the US spokesman Gordon Johndroe described ‘the Iranian development and testing of rockets’ as ‘troubling’. The West continues to accuse the Islamic Republic of pursuing a military nuclear program. This is while the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in the country’s nuclear program.

Link: Tehran hosts 4th International Symposium on Telecommunication

The 4th International Symposium on Telecommunication (IST) will be held in Tehran on August 27. A group of university experts from 20 countries will present their articles during the one-day event. The experts are from the UK, Malaysia, the US, India, Turkey, South Korea, Italy, Australia, Syria, Singapore, Japan, Sweden, Pakistan, Iraq, Armenia, Germany, Taiwan, Norway, Jordan and Bangladesh. Holding four educational workshops are among the programs to be implemented on the sidelines of the symposium.

Link: Saudi Telecom in sponsorship deal with Man United

Another Link: Manchester United Agrees to Saudi Telecom Sponsorship

Saudi Telecom Co (STC) is set to sign a marketing deal with football club Manchester United that could be worth $18.6 million (9.3 million pounds), a spokesman said, its first-ever deal with a non-Saudi football club. Football is a favoured pastime in the Middle East and telecom firms, including Emirates Telecommunications Corp , are often lead sponsors of sporting events. STC has spent more than $6 billion in foreign expansion since June 2007 as it faces greater competition in its home market, where securing sponsorship deals with local football clubs helps telecom companies retain customers in a saturated market. “We are at Manchester now. We will have a press conference tomorrow and the deal will be announced today during a Manchester United game,” STC spokesman Mohamed al-Faraj told Reuters on Sunday. The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that the five-year deal would grant STC rights to use Manchester United’s logo and imagery in its marketing in Saudi Arabia. STC would be able to offer its subscribers video clips of match highlights, the paper said. “The arrangement is said to be one of the biggest non-shirt sponsorship deals in British football,” the Times said. STC competes in Saudi Arabia with Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi Arabia . The incumbent operator has paid $200 million for five-year sponsorship agreements with three Saudi clubs. Its rival Mobily signed a 200-million-riyal (28.5 million pounds) sports-marketing deal with Saudi club al-Hilal last year — then described as the Middle East’s largest ever deal of its kind. STC’s first foreign acquisition was of a 25 percent stake in Malaysia’s Maxis for $3 billion, opening markets in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Many leading names in the world of football finance, including Manchester United, have sought to develop strong ties in various Asian countries in recent years, through sponsorship, tours and links with local clubs.

Link: Middle East fuels Samsung mobile phone growth

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone and telecommunication equipment provider, announced that it has posted its fifth consecutive quarter, selling 45.7 million handsets in the quarter, 22% higher than the same period in the previous year thanks to strong demand in emerging markets. ‘Emerging markets like the Middle East continued to drive growth this first half,’ said Sandeep Saihgal, General Manager, Hand held Phones, Samsung Gulf Electronics. ‘The total global unit sales for the first half of 2008 reached 92 million units, which are an increase of more than 20% year-on-year and our eighth consecutive quarter of shipment growth.’ As the no.2 player in the market, Samsung has some of the greatest expectations for growth in in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom’s telecom regulator estimates the number of mobile users to have risen from just 2.5 million five years ago to 20 million today. In the coming five years mobile penetration rates in the kingdom are expected to catch up with the UAE and Qatar and rise to well over 100%. ‘Saudi Arabia is currently one of our most important markets for smart phones because of its excellent growth potential and will be significantly affected by the sustained development of the industry’s ICT sector, which accounts for 40% of an estimated Dhs18bn Gulf market. The liberalisation of Saudi’s telecommunications sector is also expected to further boost demand for IT-intensive mobile phones,’ said Saihgal. Samsung expects the yet to be launched Samsung Omnia - which allows users to switch seamlessly between Microsoft Outlook email and productivity applications that replicate the look and feel of their PC, with a stroke of their finger - to be one of the most popular products in the region. Based on the most up to date Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system, Samsung Omnia gives users a mobile extension to their PC experience, with access to MS Office documents such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word. Users can also send and receive email and manage their appointments in Outlook while on the go. For high growth markets like Egypt, Syria and Jordan Samsung has seen strong sales with the Samsung J700 and the reveal of Didier Drogba, Chelsea Football Club player, as the phone’s brand ambassador. With a built in 1.3 mega pixel digital camera the Samsung J700 blends sleek styling with essential features, creating a high-class handset with a practical price. ‘The Egyptian market is a rapidly growing one by far; especially with the vital role Egyptian operators are playing. We see that the operators continue to upgrade and launch new advanced services that Samsung is continuously meeting with the launch of highly advanced mobile phones that meet the needs of operators and consumer alike.’

Link: Millions applaud Zain’s African call

It is fair to say that most of the 50,000 concert-goers that rocked up to London’s Hyde Park in late June to wish former South African President and Nobel Prize winner, Nelson Mandela, a happy 90th birthday had never before seen the symbol of one of the concerts main sponsors. While the Mercedes star was a no brainer even a Kazakh sheep farmer knows that one the Zain Group CEO Dr Saad Al-Barrak known affectionately throughout the company as the “Doctor.” Formerly MTC, Zain only unveiled its new identity less than a year ago, initially to unite MTC’s five mobile phone operations in Sudan, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and eventually Iraq. (In Lebanon, where 650,000 Lebanese use a Zain. line in the guise of mtc touch, the brand will not be rolled out as long as the company only runs the network for the Lebanese government.) But Al-Barrak is not known for sentimentality when it comes to effecting change, and his steely ambition is to propel Zain to the very forefront of global consciousness it is no coincidence that the Mandela concert was broadcast live all over the world in the presence of other blue chip names. Using his ACE — accelerate, consolidate and expand strategy, the charismatic CEO who took over the then MTC-Vodafone in 2002, wants to take Zain into the top 10 global telecom companies by 2011 and eventually into the 100 leading global brands. This in itself would be a mighty achievement for a Kuwait-based company that only six years ago was a one trick pony with 650,000 Kuwaiti customers. Since then, Al-Barrak has taken the operation into 22 countries on two continents, serving 50 million customers. In 2007, Zain posted revenues of $5.9 billion, and the first half of 2008 notched up a robust $3.5 billion. In terms of geographic presence, it is the fourth largest telecom company in the world. In line with the consolidate part of the ACE acronym, on August 1 all the African operations, which had previously operated under the Celtel banner, officially became Zain Al-Barrak’s corporate wheels are now beginning to mesh, working as one finely-oiled mechanism, linking customers he does not like the word subscriber from Baghdad to Kano. This mammoth transcontinental branding operation was an emotional milestone for those who had seen Celtel change and in some cases save the lives of millions of Africans. Sponsoring the Hyde Park concert may have been a canny PR move, but the reality is that Mandela and Zain have much in common. It was a message that Al-Barrak could deliver with confidence. “Nelson Mandela has shaped modern Africa,” he said after presenting the beloved South African leader with a gold model of a traditional Arab Dhow. “His contribution is well known and stands as an example to those who are embroiled in fighting oppression and injustice in the same way Zain, through its subsidiary Celtel and the innovative introduction of the historic One Network system, has changed the face of this great continent forever.”
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Link: Jordan’s telecom investments at 1.4 billion dollars

Jordan’s telecommunication investments reached one billion dinars (1.4 billion dollars) over the past seven years, the head of the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Ahmad Hiyasat, said Thursday. Speaking at a foreign investment conference currently in process in Amman, Hiyasat said a number of laws and regulatory decisions had “helped to boost the competitiveness of the country’s telecommunications sector.” Hiyasat said the Jordanian government had “completely withdrawn from the telecommunications sector” and Jordan had become the “first Arab country where the government has no possession whatsoever of a sector which it regulates.” “Furthermore, Jordanian laws allow non-Jordanians to possess 100 per cent of telecommunications projects in the country,” he added. He said the commission’s strategic plan for the coming two years provides for “continued liberation of the telecommunications and information technology sectors and boosting the environment of competitiveness” in the kingdom.The number of internet users in the country increased at the end of 2007 from a year earlier by 30 per cent, to 1.2 million, while mobile telephone subscribers grew by 83 per cent to 4.8 million, he added.

Link: Bahrain SIMs under new terms

Bahrain is set to introduce new guidelines for the registration for the users of prepaid mobile SIM cards which are now available for walk-in customers across the country. The much awaited regulation will be announced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and both mobile telephone operators in Bahrain. Bahrain Telecommunications Company and Zain mobile SIMs will be sold under new terms and conditions at all sales points by ensuring that no walk-in customer should be allowed to get hold of a mobile telephone SIM without rendering a complete information.

Link: Pakistan: Ethnicist SMS doing the cell phone rounds

Some people in the city have been growing more and more worried about the fears of the alleged spread of ‘Talibanization’ especially with the appearance of incendiary graffiti, posters and cell phone text messages. “Some families from [the name of a place in Sindh] arrived at [the name of a place in Karachi] and were taken upon by [the name of one linguistic group] who misbehaved with their women,” said one text message. “Their bodies were painted red and they were stripped naked… [One linguistic group] has given [the name of another group] a deadline to leave [an area in Karachi]. Think, are you going to do something or just talk? Send this SMS to all [one linguistic group] so that the nation awakens. Long live [the name of a political leader.” Another message said: “An elder from [a place in the Punjab] has told the people of Sindh in a message to pray [a certain prayer] and ask their friends to do so because a great tragedy is about to befall the province. He sent a similar message to Balakot as well before the earthquake happened.” In addition to this, Daily Times learnt through reliable sources that the authorities have formed special committees to monitor the recent arrivals of people from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). According to sources, the Special Branch and other agencies have prepared reports about their numbers. “The reports say ‘Talibinisation’ as nothing else but propaganda against the Pakhtoon and does not, in any way, refer to the recent arrival of Pakhtoon in Karachi,” sources informed Daily Times. “Either the Taliban or the security forces have driven out thousands of displaced Pakhtoon families who have been arriving in Karachi for the past couple of months. They do not pose any threat to the city in the near future and these reports have only been compiled on the instructions of the higher-ups,” said a police official, seeking anonymity. Daily Times questioned one such person, Raheem Shah, who arrived in the city from Wana. He said that the men of his family were still in the tribal areas, waging “jihad against the ‘infidels’” but he had come to Karachi to leave his family at a relative’s house until the fighting died down. Security has been upped at Gadap, Orangi, Quaidabad and Landhi. Some residents of Block 21, Federal ‘B’ Area, adjacent to Sohrab Goth, have taken defensive measures by raising the boundary walls of their apartments. Resident Kashif Ali said that a number of people, mostly tenants, had left the area out of fear of imminent clashes. Similarly, some residents of Aligarh Colony, near the Pakhtoon-dominated area of Banaras, felt that they would be better off staying elsewhere in the city with relatives. The graffiti, “Khair Mango Gay, Khair Dengay, Karachi Mango Gay, Cheer Dengay” [If you ask for goodwill, you will get goodwill, if you ask for Karachi you will get ripped apart] has been creeping up on walls in Pakthoon-dominated areas, as well as on handbills and posters being distributed throughout the city. Similar posters in English have been put up in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and other uptown areas of the city. Apart from these posters, which show mutilated bodies of the Taliban’s victims, some text messages are also circling in the city, cautioning citizens about ‘Talibanization’ and urging them to be prepared to take up arms.

Link: Middle East: Young, brand-savvy and online

Finding out what makes brand-savvy teenagers tick has always been a challenge for the marketing industry. But now if you want to get the inside information on the shopping habits of youngsters, there is only one place to go: the internet. About 30 per cent of the Middle East population are between the ages of 15 and 19, according to the World Bank – the largest proportion in the region’s history – at a time when record-high oil prices mean the region is flush with funds. In Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, the under-30 figure is more than 50 per cent. With those sorts of demographics, it is clear why young Arab consumers are becoming an increasingly important segment to marketing executives. But do companies really understand today’s teenagers and what they want? Not really, says Hermann Behrens, the Middle East chief executive of the global branding consultancy, The Brand Union. “I think that generally there’s a need to completely drop all the paradigms and to rethink the youth market and how we tackle it,” he says. “You need to completely reinvestigate and get much closer to your consumers to develop the insight that you need.” And that means going online. Young people across the globe are increasingly turning away from traditional forms of media – such as print and television – in favour of the internet. According to The State of the News Media 2008 report by the US-based Project for Excellence in Journalism, last year only 33 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds read a newspaper in an average week, a decline of seven per cent since 2000. A study released by Nielsen, the global market research firm based in New York, last month indicated that while traditional television viewing continues to grow, people under 35 are increasingly watching video on the internet and mobile phones. The means of consuming traditional media are changing, and as the number of worldwide online users expands, more forms of media, including advertising, are expected to migrate into the virtual world. Internet advertising is expected to account for 10 per cent of global ad expenditure this year, up from 8.6 per cent last year, according to the international media group, Zenith Optimedia. By 2010, the group predicts that the medium will attract 13.6 per cent of all advertising. Ad spending on social networks like MySpace is also climbing. The American market research group, eMarketer, expects US advertising expenditure on the sites to reach US$1.6 billion (Dh5.87bn) this year, a 70 per cent increase on last year. Although internet ad spending remains in the very low single digits in the Middle East, internet usage in the region has increased 1,176 per cent since 2000, according to the market research site, internetworldstats.com. It went up 281 per cent in the rest of the world during the same period. But the explosion of online users and forms of media – especially social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and weblogs – has resulted in a highly fragmented audience. “It’s become more and more challenging than ever to actually segment and profile the youth market, because it’s a moving target all the time,” Mr Behrens says. “The youth are much more spoilt for choice than we were. There’s so much out there that they have to digest that I think the biggest challenge brands have is to actually keep the youths’ attention, and to keep them engaged.”
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Link: Saudi launch will test Zain’s mettle in mobile phone market

Success of the fledgling subsidiary is critical to the financial health of the group’s entire operations. Before the start of Ramadan in September, Kuwait’s Zain will have to decide whether to go ahead with the launch of its Saudi Arabian mobile phone network or postpone it until October. Zain paid $6.1bn, a regional record, for the right to run the kingdom’s third mobile network and its success there is critical to the financial health of the whole company. Once it launches its service, Zain Saudi Arabia is likely to sign up a lot of new customers in a short space of time. Saudi Arabia’s mobile market grew surprisingly quickly during 2007 and analysts have upgraded their forecasts for customer growth at the market’s two incumbent operators, Saudi Telecom and Etihad Etisalat. What continues to divide the analysts is the level of success that Zain will enjoy. However, if the new network is to win a significant share of the market, most of its customers are likely to be drawn from the 63 per cent of mobile customers who currently use Saudi Telecom. For this reason, Zain’s launch is as important for the future of Saudi Telecom as it is for the Kuwaiti company. The Saudi market will be the first to experience a three-way battle between the Gulf’s three largest telecoms operators. The competition will expose any weaknesses in their marketing, branding and network coverage, and will provide some useful insights to other operators that want to compete with the big three in other markets.