Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

October 18th to October 25th 2007

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST:
Orascom awards submarine network deployment contract to Alcatel-Lucent 

AFRICA:
LG launches CD 3000 in Sudan; signs contract with Telkom Kenya 

ANGOLA:
European Investment Bank grants USD 21 million loan to TVCabo 

BAHRAIN:
Batelco secures USD 16 million for final phase of NGN project 

BENIN:
Benin government revokes Telecel Benin’s licence 

CAMEROON:
CAMTEL selects FTS to deploy billing solution 

EGYPT:
NTRA awards 3G licence to Mobinil 

ETHIOPIA:
ETC to invest ETB 10.6 billion to expand telecom services 

GHANA:
Celtel acquires 75 percent stake in Westel for USD 120 million 

ISRAEL:
Ceragon posts 46 percent rise in revenue
Latroun to compete with Bezeq; Communication ministry grants VoB licence 

KENYA:
Safaricom granted 3G licence
Safaricom proposes postponement of IPO to 1Q 2007 

MALAWI:
Celtel to introduce GPRS services
Malawi directs telecom carriers to provide services in rural areas 

MIDDLE EAST:
MobiComp to provide mobile backup solution to two Middle East countries 

NAMIBIA:
Telecom companies to award wage hikes to employees 

NIGERIA:
Celtel selects John Earley as the CTO
Dangote in talks to acquire Intercellular
Globacom’s subscriber base expands to reach 15 million 

OMAN:
Etisalat proposes to purchase stake in Omantel 

SOUTH AFRICA:
Kaushik Patel resigns as Telkom CFO
Telsima to provide TelsiNex DCME solution to Vodacom 

TANZANIA:
Etisalat enhances stake in Zantel to 51 percent 

UGANDA:
UCC orders telecom companies to suspend free airtime promotions 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Apple denied permission to sign exclusivity deals with UAE network operators 

ZIMBABWE:
Econet Wireless contracts Subex Azure for deployment of fraud management solutions