Africa & Middle East Telecom weekly news

October 9th to October 16th 2008

AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST:
Afghanistan and Iraq tipped for fast growth

ALGERIA:
Algeria Telecom privatisation postponed
Unregistered SIM cards disconnected

ANGOLA:
Movicel hits two million mark

BAHRAIN:
Batelco launches VoIP service

BURKINA FASO:
Regulator deals with spectrum and SIM card abuse

CAPE VERDE:
ECOWAS meeting underway

COTE D'IVOIRE:
Simmons & Simmons takes credit for MTN deal

GHANA:
GT to pay off commercial debts soon
Mobile carriers warned to pay taxes

IRAQ:
Etisalat in talks to acquire stake in Korek Telekom

KENYA:
Orange Mobile subscribers to enjoy reduced tariffs
Zain makes mobile telephony affordable
Airspan selected as WiMAX infrastructure partner for OneCom

KUWAIT:
Pre-paid upgrade for Zain

MALI:
Numbering plan is on its way

NIGER:
Early success for Orange

NIGERIA:
MTN to provide WAN solutions to FCMB
Zain Nigeria launches fixed phone service across South-South region

QATAR:
Qtel gains approval to acquire 65 percent stake in Indosat

SAUDI ARABIA:
Mobily introduces free incoming call service in 56 countries

SOUTH AFRICA:
Alcatel-Lucent to supply UMTS/HSPA technology to Vodacom
MTN plans to enter Indian telecom market
MTN, Cell C in profit sharing dispute
Neotel to raise USD 1 billion for expansion
Telkom receives government approval for sale of Vodacom stake
YeboYethu’s share offer raises ZAR 946 million

TANZANIA:
Vodacom Tanzania to provide affordable Internet access through Internet cafes
Zain outlines USD 180 million investment in ’09

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
BT to establish innovation centre
du launches package for low-income groups
Etisalat introduces Super Off-Peak Plan for reduced international calling tariff
NSN to assist du in network expansion drive

ZAMBIA:
Gateway catches the attention of World Bank
Opposition raises questions over Celtel Zambia takeover