Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

May 8th to May 15th 2008

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST:
MEA firms join to build Europe India Gateway
Vodafone for iPhone in three major markets

BAHRAIN:
Batelco considers other regions for acquisitions
Six firms interested in third mobile licence

BURKINO FASO:
Onatel to receive monetary assistance from the IFC

BURUNDI:
Africell selects Alcatel-Lucent for GSM network deployment

EGYPT:
Mobinil posts another quarter of rising profits
Orascom Telecom posts 25 percent raise in 1Q 2008 profit
Second fixed-line licence bid deadline postponed

GHANA:
Vodafone in talks with government for GT stake

IRAN:
MegaFon may build network in Iran

IRAQ:
NSN secures USD 150 million network upgrade contract from Zain

JORDAN:
i2 obtains MVNO services licence in Jordan

KENYA:
Government receives overwhelming response for Safaricom IPO
Telkom selects Ericsson for Mobile network equipment

LEBANON:
Fixed-line network declared illegal

MOROCCO:
Maroc Telecom posts 9.1 percent increase in operating profit
Meditel posts increased 1Q 2008 revenue

MOZAMBIQUE:
Whatana Investments obtains stake in Vodacom Mozambique

NAMIBIA:
Telecom Namibia to link to undersea cable for better broadband

NIGERIA:
Celtel plans USD 1 billion investment to improve service quality
Globacom plans to deploy 1,500 base stations

SIERRA LEONE:
Sierratel to deploy CDMA phone system soon

SOUTH AFRICA:
Bharti still in pole position for MTN
Vodacom introduces lower tariffs

TURKEY:
Turkcell posts improved 1Q 2008 results

UGANDA:
Celtel revises pre-paid tariffs
UETCL applies for public infrastructure provider licence

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Etisalat joins race for TTSL stake acquisition
FRiENDi gears-up for launch
Warid Telecom invests USD 250 million for network expansion