Africa & Middle East Telecom 3-weeks news

July 31st to August 24th 2008

AFGHANISTAN:
Roshan obtains USD 55 million loan from ADB

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST:
MENA Region to account for 26 percent of global Internet users

BAHRAIN:
Third mobile phone carrier to be announced by ’09

BOTSWANA:
Government spends USD 100 million in EASSy project

EGYPT:
Orascom Telecom to buyback shares
Telecom Egypt reports EGP 1.2 billion net profit in 1H ’08
Telecom Egypt to expand international operations through acquisitions

GHANA:
Vodafone concludes GT stake acquisition

ISRAEL:
012 Smile.Communications reports ILS 263.6 million revenues in 2Q ’08
Cellcom posts improved 2Q ’08 results

KENYA:
Government grants two-month extension to Econet
Safaricom upgrades network to HSDPA
Telkom Kenya establishes enterprise division
Zain introduces ‘Choose Your Number’ service for subscribers

KUWAIT:
Kuwait Telecom to commence stake sale soon
Zain begins USD 4.5 billion share subscription offer

NAMIBIA:
Telecom Namibia faces heat on tender issue

NIGERIA:
Globacom to complete submarine cable project by early-’09

NITEL fills top management positions
Senate committee probes NITEL’s financial records 

OMAN:
Eight telecom operators qualify for Omantel’s 25 percent stake sale

SOUTH AFRICA:
DOC to award mobile TV licence in 2009 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
Etisalat discontinues talks with Datacom; initiates talks with Swan

ZIMBABWE:
Inflation causes another round of mobile tariff hike