Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

5th of July to 12th of July 2007

ALGERIA:
OTA awards contract to Redline to assist in network expansion 

BAHRAIN:
Batelco enters the final phase of NGN services roll-out
Batelco reduces Inet-dedicated access tariffs
Kalaam Telecom unveils fixed wireless service in Bahrain 

BENIN:
Telecom licences of MTN and Moov suspended 

EGYPT:
Etisalat Egypt to contend for second fixed-line licence 

IRAN:
Iran addresses Hajjis’ concern for SIM cards 

ISRAEL:
ECI to deploy WiMAX solution for Digicel
Partner Communications accused of over charging customers
YES and NDS Group poised to launch computer-based TV service 

KENYA:
Kenyan government commences the proceedings for Safaricom IPO
KNFC intends to launch mobile phone service alone 

NIGERIA:
Celtel Nigeria announces plans for Project Katsina
SPDC selects Globacom as the official telecom carrier 

QATAR:
Qatar’s second mobile carrier to sell its 55 percent stake
Qtel’s post-paid customers to enjoy discounted rates for international calling 

SAUDI ARABIA:
MTC Consortium to set up third mobile telecom company in KSA 

SWAZILAND:
MTN PAYG customers to get additional talk-time 

TANZANIA:
Vodacom introduces mobile e-mail service in Tanzania 

UGANDA:
MTN, UTL caught in a dispute over call rates
Uganda Telecom inks network expansion deal with Huawei 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Etisalat signs deal with Iseemedia to deliver newspapers to wireless devices
Etisalat’s HSPA deployment completed
Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company gets USD 125 million syndicate loan facility 

YEMEN:
HiTs-Unitel to launch GSM services in Yemen 

ZIMBABWE:
Econet to roll out 3G services