Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

October 25th to Novemberr 1st 2007

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST:
Zain CEO seeks to set up UN body for private organisations 

AFRICA:
GSMA reserves $50Bn investment to increase mobile coverage in Africa 

BAHRAIN:
Batelco plans USD 4 Billion investment for acquisitions
Batelco registers 10.7 percent increase in profits 

EGYPT:
Orascom Telecom divests 3 percent stake in HTIL 

IRAN:
Telecom sector encourages foreign investment 

ISRAEL:
Bezeq board sanctions ILS 1 billion for Pelephone’s HSPA network deployment
Telecom Argentina chooses Radcom’s network and service monitoring solution
Wataniya granted spectrum to operate mobile services in Palestine 

KENYA:
Launch of MNP delayed due to lack of funds 

KUWAIT:
Wataniya partners with Cisco to offer new Wnet Corporate Offering in Kuwait 

LEBANON:
Zain to bid for stake in Lebanese telecom firm 

MIDDLE EAST:
T.A. Telecom subscribers to enjoy Shazam’s music recognition service 

MOROCCO:
Vivendi increases stake in Maroc Telecom to 53 percent 

NIGERIA:
GSM subscriptions cross 43 million mark in Nigeria
Transcorp expects NGN 35 billion revenue from SAT-3 cable 

OMAN:
Omantel launches pilot phase of ADSL Internet project
Omantel registers nearly 100 percent increase in 3Q 2007 profits 

SAUDI ARABIA:
Mobily announces 43.3 percent increase in 3Q 2007 net profits
Mobily offers new increased speed data bundles 

SOUTH AFRICA:
CCMA to hear Telkom wage dispute 

TANZANIA:
Vodacom Tanzania inks roaming agreement with MTN Rwanda 

UGANDA:
UCC restricts carriers from offering free airtime
Uganda Telecom wins CHOGM Internet deal 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Etisalat still not open to foreign investment