Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

September 4th to September 11th 2008

AFRICA:
Essar eyes telecom investment in Africa

BURKINO FASO:
Must try harder says Regulator

EGYPT:
Mobinil introduces 3G service
OT buys back 587,530 GDRs; in acquisition talks with Telekom Austria
Second fixed-line licence auction postponed again

ISRAEL:
HOT intends to stop YES-Bezeq deal
Mobile phone carriers to switch to IP Ethernet
Partner in talks with Bezeq International for Internet infrastructure sharing

KENYA:
KRA to charge excise duty on wireless services
Zain plans USD 372 million investment on network enhancement

LEBANON:
Lebanon to auction two state-owned telecom companies soon
MTC, Alfa to lower tariffs

LIBERIA:
LTA tells GSM operators how it is

MALAWI:
Zain involved in expansion and upgrade drive

MOZAMBIQUE:
mCel to issue bonds

NIGERIA:
Zain introduces new packages with reduces calling and SMS tariffs

OMAN:
Nawras launches new SMS and voice bundles
Omantel set to launch VoIP in November

SAUDI ARABIA:
Mobily launches WiMAX service for residential customers  

SIERRA LEONE:
Sierratel gets USD 30 million aid from Indian government
Zain migrates to new dialling code

SOUTH AFRICA:
iBurst adopts FTS’ billing system
ICASA to issue new infrastructure licences soon
Telecom firms sign MoU to develop 5.1Tb cable
Telkom receives offer of interest from Mike Adenuga

UGANDA:
MTN preparing for launch of money transfer service
Smile Communications wins Ugandan telecom licence