MyAdhan Blog

Link: Saudi Atheeb telco plans $80mn IPO in January

Another Link: Saudi Atheeb telco plans $80 mln IPO in January

Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications Co, one of three firms licensed to operate new fixed-line networks in Saudi Arabia, plans to raise 300 million riyals ($80 million) in an initial public offering next month.

Atheeb, which comprises Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) and private Saudi investors, plans to sell 30 million shares, or 30 percent of its capital, at 10 riyals each, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) said on Monday. The IPO will run from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2. This will be Saudi Arabia’s first IPO since August. The local bourse has lost about 45 percent of its value since the last listing and many analysts say CMA has deliberately put on hold IPOs pending an improvement of investor sentiment. Etihad Atheeb will face competition from fixed-line monopoly Saudi Telecom (STC) and two other firms that won licences last year to offer fixed-line services.

The two other firms are Optical Communications Co, led by US Verizon Communications Inc and Al-Mutakamilah Company which is led by Hong Kong’s PCCW. STC has about 4.5 million fixed-line subscribers and around 1.3 million internet users. Saudi Arabia has a population of 24 million. Etihad Atheeb plans to invest $1 billion in its Saudi fixed-line operation in the first five years of business, its Chairman Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Ahmed Al-Saud said in February. Etihad Atheeb would target government and industrial hubs and regions covered insufficiently by STC, he said.

The firm was initially planning to sell 25 percent of its capital to the public and an additional 10 percent stake to the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI) and the Public Pension Agency, Saudi Arabia two largest state pension funds. After the IPO, Batelco would keep a 15 percent stake in Atheeb, Atheeb Group will hold 30 percent, private Nahla Company will have 14 percent and GOSI will have a 5 percent stake, a spokesperson for Etihad Atheeb said.

Link: Repairs completed to undersea internet line

Indian telecoms company Reliance Communications has repaired cuts in its submarine cable which, along with cuts in two other cables, had disrupted services in parts of the Middle East and South Asia. The No. 2 Indian mobile firm said in a statement late on Monday it had repaired the FLAG Europe-Asia cable, operated by its international unit Reliance Globalcom.

Three undersea cables owned by different consortiums were damaged on Dec. 19 in the Mediterranean, possibly by a ship’s anchor. Damage to the cables seriously disrupted more than half of internet and phone services between Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Friday, with India, Qatar and the UAE the worst affected, France Telecom said. The telecom operator said initial estimates show 82 percent of service to India was disrupted, while 73 percent of service to Qatar and 68 percent to the UAE was affected. Around 50 percent of service to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt was also disrupted, it said. According to a report in The Peninsula on Tuesday, the slowdown in internet services in Qatar would continue as repair work on the damaged undersea cables in the Mediterranean Sea had been delayed.

The repairs are now expected to be completed by January 5 after an important undersea cable broke for a second time, this time at a much greater depth. In an online poll carried out by Arabian Business, about 50 percent of respondents said there internet and international phone services had been affected by the damage to the cables. Only 20 percent said they had not suffered any inconvenience while another 15 percent said they were not sure if the damage had affected them because their internet service was normally so poor.

Link: Qatar: Qtel signs deal to improve Internet services

Qatari and Indian telecom groups Qtel and Reliance Globalcom struck a deal on Tuesday aimed at improving internet and phone services in the Gulf, which have been severely disrupted in the last week. The two companies have signed a strategic agreement, benefiting international and Qatar-based clients by providing telecom networks that can cope with a higher volume of voice, data and video applications.

“The new agreement has been designed to introduce greater redundancy in the network and increase the traffic capacity of voice and internet networks, to help reduce the impact of events like the recent breach of internet sub-cables, which caused regional disruption to internet and voice services,” Reliance said in a statement on Tuesday. “By positioning Qatar as a hub on this cable system, customers in Qatar and neighbouring countries could be less exposed to the impact of cable breaks in the future,” the statement added. The Gulf has been experiencing internet problems since the start of last week, after three undersea cables which link Europe and the Middle East were damaged in the Mediterranean off Italy. Technicians are currently fixing the problem, which is expected to be resolved tomorrow.

Reliance Globalcom, a division of the Indian telecoms behemoth Reliance Communications, owns the world’s largest private undersea cable system, spanning 65,000 kilometres and connecting key markets in India, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the US, including its FLAG Europe-Asia cable. Qtel, a fixed and mobile telecoms provider, operates in 17 countries and is looking to expand across the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia.

Link: UAE: Du slashes call costs to Palestine by 50%

Du, the second largest telecoms company in the UAE, announced on Tuesday a 50 percent cut for all calls to Palestine. The offer from the company began on Tuesday and means anyone calling Palestine from a du land line or mobile phone in the UAE will receive a 50 percent discount. The deal is aimed at helping Palestinians in the UAE stay in touch with family and friends during the latest outbreak of fighting in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Islamic militant group Hamas. Farid Faraidooni, executive vice-president of du’s commercial division said: “We wanted to enable our Palestinian brothers residing in the UAE to keep in touch with their families in Palestine. As a national company, we believe this is a small gesture to support them and we will keep all of them in our prayers.” It is not known how long the deal will last, Du said.

Link: Pakistan Telecoms Stay Upbeat Despite Business Slowdown

After several years of major investment — a good deal of FDI inflows, including those originating from United Arab Emirates — has put telecoms on the fastest growth track. The investment in fiscal 2008 was $3.1 billion compared to $4 billion in 2007.

The new inflow in 2008 includes $2.3 billion in cellular segment alone. The foreign direct investment (FDI), in the telecom sector was $1.4 billion or 28 per cent of the overall FDI inflows. It was the second highest in overall FDI inflows into Pakistan. FDI in 2007 in telecoms was $1.8 billion or 36 per cent of the overall investment of FDI in 2007. The FDI in the sector, for three years, between 2004 to 2007 was the highest in total FDI inflows. A major part of the FDI financed import of equipment by telecom companies to further upgrade, diversify and expand their services. This is illustrated by the fact that the number of cellular cell sites spiralled 57 per cent to 21,518 in 2008. The telecom imports in 2008 totalled $1.33 billion, marginally lower than 2007.

Out of Pakistan’s overall imports of $39 billion, telecom equipment imports accounted for around 4 per cent compared to 4.4 per cent in 2007. The country’s teledensity rose to 58.8 per cent — up from a 45 per cent growth in 2007. The growth slowed a bit compared to recent years. The factors that impacted its expansion included a deceleration in cellular growth, rising taxation and spiralling inflation, the regulators say. The tax revenue provided by telecoms to the government of Pakistan is rising constantly. Inclusive of all taxes, the sector contributed taxes totalling Rs112 billion in 2008, up Rs10 billion compared to 2007. The revenue included Rs44 bilon as the General Sales Tax (GST) — 4.0 per cent more than its contribution in 2007. The cellular segment of telecoms is the biggest performer. It comprises investment from well-known foreign companies and their subsidiaries.

Pakistan’s cellular density rose to 54.7 per cent of the population in 2008, up from 39 per cent in 2007, Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) the industry regulator says in its annual report for 2008. PTA points out that Pakistan holds fourth position in the region in terms of teledensity of cellular phones after Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. But, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal follow Pakistan in this field. The expanding cellular market earned 37 per cent more revenues in 2008 compared to 2007.

But the fast expansion and intense competition by six major cellular operators has brought down the tariff, as the number of phone users is going up rapidly. As a result the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) marginally declined to $3.1. The sector recorded total cellular traffic of 43 billion minutes — up 31 per cent from the 2007 level. Telecom services and facilities moved in other areas, too, in 2008. The Long Distance International (LDI) Carrier Services, for instance increased by 40 per cent to 178 in 2008, as against 127 per cent in 2007, calculated on the basis of total Point of Presence (POP). The LDI revenue, excluding that earned by Pakistan Telecom Corporation Ltd (PTCL), formerly the state monopoly, but which is till 74 per cent owned by the government, rose 42 per cent to Rs22 billon — up from Rs15 billion in 2007.

The PTA states the investment in LDI was $390 million in 2008, or 35 per cent less than 2007. Its 77 per cent contribution was from Link Direct at $300 million. The LDI also recorded its outgoing traffic at 1.66 billion minutes which was 31 per cent more than 2007. The LDI incoming traffic grew by 163 per cent to 5.5 billion minutes — against 2.0 billion minutes in 2007. Most of it was routed from UK which accounted for 37 per cent, and United States sharing 28 per cent. The telecom companies’ business and the traffic, both outgoing and incoming, received a significant boost in 2008 on the back of PTA action in several areas including crackdown against grey traffic, technical facility to monitor IP bandwidth and international traffic monitoring system. The intense competition also, to a great deal, brought down the tariff and service cost to users, which in turn curbed the grey traffic.

The PTA reports, the decline in the fixed line (FL) penetration in the market went on with FL density also reducing to 2.7 per cent, against 3.04 per cent in 2007. The comparatively new Wireless Local Loop (WLL) subscribers rose to 2.2 million from 1.7 million in 2007. The leader in this field continues to be PTCL — sharing 53 per cent of the market. It indicated a 33 per cent year-on-year growth.

This year saw the WLL penetration in the market rising to 1.4 compared to 1.1 per cent in the previous year. The infrastructure of the service is growing as the number of its sites rose 49 per cent to 2,897 up from 1,946 in 2007. The number of card payphones is also growing. The number rose 16 per cent to 449,000. With a 40 per cent market share Telecard Company lead the field. It was followed by PTCL with 30 per cent share. PTA says the WLL-based Public Call offices (PCOs) dominated this area with a 59 per cent share in PCOs.

The telecom sector is also witnessing use of a range of other services and facilities. The customers subscribing to broadband services is growing fast. The Direct Satellite Link (DSL) is leading in this field. Nearly 65 per cent subscribers are now using DSL. At number two in the area is Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) which has a 25 per cent market share. As a variety of telecom services are still coming in with technology advancing, the PTA is active in bringing them under its regulatory fold. Among other areas that are being covered with new and more comprehensive regulations there are several, including migration of mobile subscriber numbers from seven to eight digits, issue of fixed line licences for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Northern Areas of Pakistan, as well as Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The regulator has also revised Access Promotion Contribution (APC)and settlement charges and a cut in Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs).

The MTRs are based on the model of Long-run Incremental Costs (LRICs). As a result of adoption of this model, Pakistan has become the first country in the region to implement this regulatory regime. The policies of the country’s process of deregulation of the telecom sector which started five years ago will be reviewed soon. The review of policies covering the cellular mobile segment will follow in 2009. The industry and business stay upbeat about the telecom growth, introduction of a range of new and innovative services, and expect it will remain No.1 or Number 2 growth and business sector for future investment and profitability.

Link: Palestine mobile operator transmission tower damaged by Israeli forces

On Sunday, Israeli troops stormed al-Karantina medical center in the old town of Hebron. They broke doors and searched and damaged the center. Meanwhile another Israeli force moved into Beer al-Basha village, south of Jenin city. They raided the site of a transmission tower of Jawal (the Palestinian mobile company). They questioned a worker, Mohammed Yousef Daqqa and left.

Link: Kashmir Govt Lifts Ban From SMS Service

Other Links:
Cellular operators restore SMS in Jammu Kashmir after govt lifts ban
SMS services restored in Jammu and Kashmir

After the conclusion of elections in restive Kashmir, authorities on Saturday lifted the ban from Short Service Messaging (SMS) services and allowed the mobile operators to resume the services. The restoration of SMS services has come as a delight to the people, who have been demanding lifting of the ban, which was imposed in August of this year.

Official sources said that the government informed the cellular operators about the lifting of the ban on the SMS service, which came into effect on August 3. “Immediately after receiving the government nod, the cellular operators resumed SMS services in Kashmir,” he said. General Manager (Mobile) BSNL, Kashmir, A K Mittal said, “We had to stop the services after a ban imposed by Kashmir government. The services were resumed on Saturday after the ban was lifted by the government”.

Link: UAE: Finding that winning ‘tech’ touch

Every year is a good one for technology, which by definition keeps on getting better as time goes on. The safest prediction you can make is that a great advance will be made in the coming year in technology and how we use it. You would have been as right in 1898 as you will be in 2008.

With that said, predicting which actual technology or theme will dominate the industry is a more difficult proposition. Looking back on this year, there are dozens of stories that could be considered the most important. But we think three stand out, for their impact both on how we live and how the industry works. Most important is mobile internet. The internet has been available on mobile phones for almost a decade, but it was not until Apple released the iPhone that people began to take it seriously. Along with Research in Motion (RIM) and its hugely popular BlackBerry e-mail phone, Apple has brought mobile internet to the mainstream in a way industry leaders such as Nokia and Motorola failed to.

Now that Apple has exposed the form factor – large touch-screen, full keyboard – that we were all waiting for, every mobile maker has a look-alike device that is either on the market or soon will be. The trend is clear, and there will be no turning back: the internet will be part of our mobile phones from here onward. Handset makers played their part in making this happen, but equal credit should go to the mobile network operators. Looking to diversify their revenue from simple voice calls and text messages, most have made massive investments in rolling out internet-friendly 3G networks. The availability of high-speed connections changes mobile internet from a fun gimmick to a must-have for connected professionals.

Once it can be assumed that a large segment of the population – and the most technically savvy – has almost ubiquitous access to the internet, it changes, in many ways, the fundamental meaning of the web. We may still be a year or two away from that point, but 2008 was the year that getting there became inevitable. On the industry level, one deal stood out. In becoming the world’s second-largest manufacturer of microprocessors, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company made the boldest, riskiest and potentially most transformational technology deal of the year.

The Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), a Mubadala subsidiary, will become the majority owner of The Foundry Company, a new business that will operate the entire manufacturing system of California’s AMD, the world’s second-biggest chip maker. More importantly for the UAE, it could mean microprocessor fabrication plants (fabs) being built here, which would transform the local technology sector. The kinds of jobs available for skilled technology professionals, the kinds of new services in demand, the profile of national research and development efforts – all would change dramatically, and quickly, if a fab made its way to Abu Dhabi.

Globally, the deal could change the economics of the microprocessor industry, freeing up chip designers to invest more time on their core business without the massive financial burden of operating the world’s most complicated and expensive manufacturing facilities. An immediate challenge will be the future of AMD itself. The company’s share price, and the value of Mubadala’s investment in it, has crashed even harder than most other companies in the sector, and it is now valued at less than 1 per cent of the dizzying highs reached during the dotcom bubble.

Arabic will become increasingly prevalent on the internet thanks to two big decisions that were made this year. First, the agreement to implement internationalised domain names (IDNs) means that entire web addresses, and e-mail addresses, will be able to be written in Arabic. Second, the decision to permanently open applications for a potentially unlimited number of the global top-level domains (GTLDs) means that web addresses currently ending in .com or .ae will soon be able to end in almost anything, in any language.

A number of Arab-world internet businesses are hoping to build new hubs around Arabic-language web domains. Letting hundreds of millions of internet users finally access the web in their own tongues will lead to a boom in new content, made by and for users in the region. Internet use grew by more than 1,000 per cent in the Middle East in the past decade, mainly because it was starting from almost zero. Because of what happened this year, the next generation of 100 million Arab users will find a web that is written in their language. What will shape the technology sector, and the way it affects our lives next year? Looking forward is obviously harder than looking back. But here are three predictions.

First, as property agents love to say, location, location, location. Internet and GPS navigation are both useful tools to have on a mobile. Combine the two and things get interesting. Combine them with well-made applications that capitalise on both and you have a whole new ball game. Imagine walking into a restaurant and being alerted to what your friends have said about it. Or searching for coffee shops and getting results based on how close the store is to your current location. Or only seeing advertisements for products that are being sold in your neighbourhood. This is just a taste of what is already possible with the applications being written for GPS and internet-enabled mobiles such as the iPhone 3G and the Google T-Mobile G1.

Next year, the flagship device of every major handset maker will include both GPS and advanced internet applications. Social networking services, search engines, websites and advertisers will all look to offer a more compelling service based on integrating the two systems. Second, on a business level, the trend will be entrepreneurs and start-ups. Economic downturns present the best opportunity for entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in the market. Big companies get cold feet and cut investment in new products. Brilliant people get laid off and enter the job market. The cost of goods and services drops, particularly the kind of services targeted at businesses.

All of these factors point to a good year for entrepreneurs next year. On top of the big-picture economics, there are more practical reasons. The popularity of smart phones such as the iPhone and BlackBerry has created a whole new market for mobile applications, while Apple’s iTunes Application Store is a new platform to distribute and sell software at almost no cost. As other handset makers replicate Apple’s store, the opportunities will multiply. The steady decline of traditional media also means more advertising dollars will make their way online, supporting the business models of small, nimble internet start-ups. And a general climate of fear and uncertainty benefits small, ambitious businesses with nothing to lose. Their sales might not boom until 2011, but the next wave of start-up success stories will emerge next year. Thirdly, while entrepreneurs innovate, the giants will consolidate. Instead of taking risky bets on entering new markets, the big technology and telecommunications companies will spend next year acquiring or merging with small and medium players.

In IT, this will mean big, deep-pocketed companies such as Microsoft and Google choosing to swallow competitors such as Yahoo and Facebook rather than invest in new products to beat them. Tightening debt markets mean it will become difficult for cash-burning companies to stay independent. In telecoms, the trend will be to acquire successful operators, rather than build new networks from scratch. In the Middle East, the number one target will be Orascom Telecom, the emerging markets specialist from Cairo. The company is well managed and exposed to high-growth economies, but will struggle to service a growing debt burden next year. Look for a cash-rich, government-backed operator like Saudi Telecom to snap it up.

Link: Middle East embraces SMS technology

The Middle East has been identified as a place where mobile phones are being used for far more than personal communication. According to ITProPortal.com, businesses and many other organisations in the region are increasingly using text messages as a means of promoting their goods and services.

This trend was said to be particularly apparent in the United Arab Emirates, especially Dubai, where SMS was also described as a very popular way of entering competitions on the radio. ITProPortal added that some parts of the region also use text messages as a public information system, with governments issuing reminders regarding certain deadlines via handsets. Indeed, it said this form of notification has become standard, and in many cases, mandatory.

The website also revealed that consumers in the Middle East are using mobile phones to conduct their financial affairs. Qatar, for example, was flagged up as a place where banks are legally obliged to offer the facility to manage money via SMS. ITProPortal stated that while text messaging has become standard in many cases, operators and businesses are not sitting back.

Organisations were said to be increasingly looking for new and innovative ways in which to use the technology, particularly in the face of rising levels of competition. “The Middle East has gone a significant way beyond person-to-person text messaging,” it commented. The online portal added that businesses, organisations and governments are now “routinely” using SMS as a means of staying in touch with clients, employees and citizens.

Link: Zain Launches Voice SMS for Its Customers in Kuwait

Other Links:
Zain Launches Voice SMS for Its Customers in Kuwait
Zain Kuwait Launches Nationwide Voice SMS on Kirusa Platforms

Zain, the leading mobile service provider in Kuwait, has launched a nationwide Voice SMS service on Kirusa platforms. All prepaid and postpaid subscribers of Zain Kuwait can now send Voice SMS to mobile customers in Kuwait and to over a billion people across the globe. Kirusa is the world’s leading vendor of Voice SMS and a leading developer of mobile value added services. Voice SMS enables users to send messages in their own voice rather than typing an SMS, enabling them to communicate their emotions in any language. Voice SMS will put life into the messages sent by Zain customers to their family, friends and colleagues, making messaging a unique, lively and personal experience.

“We see a great opportunity for Voice SMS in Kuwait and are also delighted to offer our customers the flexibility of reaching out to their friends and families overseas. Voice SMS gives them an option to communicate with voice messages across borders and time zones,” said Khaled Al-Hajeri CEO of Zain Kuwait. He further added, “Kirusa’s leading Voice SMS offering has huge proven potential, and serves as the platform for many other value added services, including International Voice SMS and broadcast of voice messages.”

“Kirusa’s Voice SMS solution enables Zain customers a greater freedom to communicate and provides an emotional touch to their messages within Kuwait and to mobile users across the globe,” said Dr. Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO and Founder of Kirusa. “We are very excited to be a part of the Zain Kuwait’s Voice SMS launch and are sure that Zain subscribers will welcome the flexibility that the service offers.” To make the service available to its customers, Zain has incorporated Kirusa Voice SMS Solution integrated with the HP Opencall Media Platform into its network.

To subscribe, a Zain customer has to send VSMS to number 99999. To compose a Voice SMS, a Zain customer has to dial *88 followed by the number of the person to whom he wishes to send the message to and speak for up to 30 seconds. He can then disconnect, or choose further options by pressing 1. The recipient will receive a text SMS notification and can dial the retrieval number ‘+965 9969-0989′ by clicking the embedded link in the notification, to hear the Voice SMS. Zain customers can dial the same number to listen to the Voice SMS again. They can also reply to or forward the Voice SMS by following the instructions played in the recipient’s language of choice. Recipients who are not on Zain’s network can also listen to the Voice SMS by dialing the same number ‘+965 9969-0989′.

International Voice SMS enables Zain customers to communicate with over a billion customers across the globe. Sending messages internationally is just as easy as sending a message across town. A Zain subscriber can dial * 88 followed by 00, country code and the international number; record a voice message and disconnect.