Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

September 27th to October 4th 2007

AFRICA:
Four more African countries get connected to One Network Service
Togo connects with Benin via telecom link
Tunisie Telecom, Cell C and Azercell Telecom ink mutual roaming pacts 

BAHRAIN:
Zain Bahrain introduces WiMAX network in Bahrain 

EGYPT:
MobiNil selects VoluBill’s ‘Charge it’ solution
Orascom shows interest in Egypt’s second fixed-line licence 

GAMBIA:
Gamtel, Gamcel ink strategic partnership agreement with Spectrum Group 

ISRAEL:
Debenture sale generates ILS 423 million for Internet Gold
Government formulates WiMAX tender policy 

JORDAN:
MVNOs allowed service provision in Jordanian telecom market 

KENYA:
Safaricom expands Kama Kawaida service in Rwanda
Strategic investor to pay for Telkom’s mobile licence fee 

KUWAIT:
Government to offer IPO shares of third mobile carrier to citizens 

LEBANON:
Alfa to use Intec’s mobile business solutions 

MOROCCO:
Wana’s subscriber-base touches one million 

NAMIBIA:
Telecom Namibia to reduce call rates 

NIGERIA:
Globacom pays NGN 5 million to the NCC 

OMAN:
Omantel gains board’s approval for World Call acquisition
Omantel to expand broadband network nationwide 

QATAR:
Qtel rolls out new 3G service 

SAUDI ARABIA:
Al Jawal’s LRN service simplifies mobile connectivity for Qatar visitors 

SOUTH AFRICA:
Fixed-line number portability to be implemented in South Africa
Telkom Media to offer pay-TV services
Vodacom to use Experian Decision Analytics 

SUDAN:
Etisalat plans to venture into local mobile services market 

UGANDA:
Motorola to deploy WiMAX network in Uganda
UTL to provide BlackBerry service for CHOGM 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
UAE’s telecom sector not open for foreign firms