Batelco cancels plans to sell tower in Bahrain, Jordan (Bahrain)
Bahrain Telecommunications (Batelco) has cancelled plans to sell its transmitter towers in Bahrain and Jordan and will instead look to share infrastructure with rival operators, said chief exective, Sheikh Mohamed Al-Khalifa.
Reuters had revealed in December that Batelco was considering a sale and lease back deal for its towers in the two countries, with funds raised earmarked for future acquisitions. Al-Khalifa said that Batelco has decided not to proceed with any tower sale in Bahrain and Jordan as various sale and lease back proposals did not create sufficient, long-term economic value.
Batelco will instead look to share towers and other infrastructure with rival operators. Sheikh Mohamed added that as more towers, rooftops and indoor solutions will be required in the future, such co-operation between operators will increase.
Orange Jordan dominates 55% market share in broadband segment (Jordan)
Orange Jordan, a subsidiary of Jordan Telecom Group, said that its fixed and wireless broadband Internet represents around 55 percent of the kingdom’s total market share.
Orange Jordan’s Chief Executive Sami Smeirat told Dow Jones Newswires that they have around 400,000 subscribers in both the wire and wireless broadband.
As per the report, Smeirat said Orange, in which France Telecom (FTE) owns a 51 percent stake, has currently over 34 percent market penetration as far as the mobile services are concerned, or around 2.6 million subscribers.
Jordan currently has three mobile operators, including Zain Jordan, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Company, Orange Jordan, and Batelco’s unit Umniah.
Orange Jordan saw growth in broadband 3G services boosting the 2011 bottom line in a sector which has seen a fierce turf war among the three operators and is hit by sluggish economic growth.
Umniah partners with Rotana to enrich Arabic mobile content (Jordan)
Umniah announced signing a partnership agreement with Rotana, the leading producer and distributor of Arabic music. By virtue of the agreement, Umniah aims to enrich Arabic mobile content and offer its subscribers a unique listener experience through a number of value added services. The agreement was signed by Salem Al Hendi, President of Rotana Audio & Visual Group, and Ihab Hinnawi, CEO of Umniah, on 24th April, 2012, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman.
Under the agreement, Umniah will enhance its value added services to include a wider range of ringtones and video clips, among others, and will enrich the content it offers to its subscribers, particularly youth. Umniah will also be the official sponsor of Rotana Café in Jabal Amman, allowing the Company to interact with visitors and keep them abreast with its latest products and updates. In addition, Umniah will participate in all upcoming Rotana functions in the Kingdom.
Hinnawi said that their partnership with Rotana emphasizes their sense of belonging to technology, youth and music. It comes in line with their interest in enhancing Arabic mobile content as they prepare to launch their high-speed Internet services. Rotana is a renowned Arabic music production and distribution powerhouse, and boasts an expansive music archive. They are proud to be Rotana’s exclusive partner in Jordan and are confident that its long-standing experience will exponentially support Umniah in offering subscribers high-quality services with competitive features.
In turn, Salem El Hendi, affirmed his company’s interest in forming sustainable strategic partnerships with leading Jordanian companies and commended Umniah on its significant role in advancing Jordan’s telecom sector. He also lauded the Company for the outstanding services it delivers to the local market and expressed hopes that the partnership with Umniah will significantly enrich Arabic content and provide subscribers with exceptional services.
Commenting on Jordan’s leading position in the field of Arabic content, Hinnawi said that they are proud of the prominent position that Jordan’s ICT sector has reached on both the local and regional levels. The Kingdom’s ICT sector has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the past five years and is the biggest supplier of Arabic content on the Web, where it contributes 75 percent of all Arabic content. This figure is considered a national accomplishment that motivates us to continue in this direction to not only maintain their current position, but to also strengthen it by improving our Arabic content, which is a matter that has become a top priority within the global ICT sector.
Umniah begins preperation for 3G launch (Jordan)
Umniah, the leading telecom operator in Jordan and a subsidiary of Bahrain’s Batelco Group, has announced that it was gearing up for the rollout of 3G services across the kingdom in the coming months, according to a report by TradeArabia.
As per ther report, Umniah said preparations were underway for the completion of the newest 3G network in the Kingdom. The company confirmed that it is in the process of finalizing the network in order to meet the growing demands for high-speed Internet in the Jordanian market.
The operator announced that it had signed key agreements with Huawei and ZTE to assist in the technical requirements related to the building of the 3G network for Umniah’s corporate and individual subscribers.
Umniah CEO Ihab Hinnawi said that they are expecting to launch their 3G services in the coming few months. Further, the market has shown a number of indications that signify its readiness for 3G services as they have seen an increased demand for broadband Internet services, an increase in smartphone penetration rates, an improvement in purchasing power as well as a rise in content and applications that are suited to our community and lifestyle.
Hinnawi said Umniah had invested $70.4 million in January for a 3G licence and dedicated additional amounts towards infrastructure and network expenses.
As per the report, the telecom group had also acquired 2.1 GHz of spectrum from the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), preparing it to move forward with the rollout of the advanced 3.75G services to its growing customer base, he stated.
Umniah currently serves more than 2.3 million customers in the Kingdom, giving it a 31 per cent market share, he added.
Orange Jordan to invest $114 million for 3G launch (Jordan)
Telecom operator Orange Jordan has reportedly invested $ 114 million to launch 3G services in the region and offer users’ better mobile broadband services. In order to provide seamless mobile services to the consumers, Orange has partnered with Ericsson to manage and expand its network.
As per reports, Sami Smeirat, vice-president of Jordan Telecom Group for Business Services and CEO of Jordan Data Communications, said that they have invested around $700 million on building infrastructure in the last 10 years as an enabler, and they are the first to introduce 3G in the country.
Smeirat added that they cover around 95 per cent of the country with their broadband network. Further, they have 5,000km of fiber optic cable to businesses and are increasing it by 2-3km per day. 85 percent of the phones used in the country are smartphones and the remainder are conventional models.
He said that the developed network increased their international business, where 30 per cent of the revenues are from wholesale services. They have witnessed a shift in customer behaviour, largely as a result of proliferation of smartphones and other types of internet-enabled phones.
Orange Jordan partners with Ericsson for network upgrade (Jordan)
Telecom operator Orange Jordan has signed an agreement with Ericsson to expand and modernise the operator’s 2G and 3G networks across the kingdom. According to reports, the new agreement will enable modernization of the 2G network while expanding the operator’s 3G presence.
As per a company statement, the upgrades will allow Orange Jordan to meet the demands of its growing subscriber base and continue to provide customers with high quality connectivity throughout the kingdom.
Further, under the terms of the agreement, Ericsson will also be supplying Orange with its latest RBS 6000 technology, an energy-efficient compact site solution that prepares the network for LTE/4G technology.
Tarek Saadi, president and head of Ericsson North Middle East, said that they are delighted to be continuing their successful relationship with Orange Jordan, and to have been awarded the modernization and expansion contract of their 3G and 2G networks. He added that they are committed to working with Orange to provide them with tailored and adaptable solutions that can help them meet the demands of their increasing subscriber base, and we look forward to further cooperation with Orange in the future.
Nayla Khawam, CEO, Orange Jordan, has said that the operator and its predecessor, Jordan Telecom Group, have played a key role creating the kingdom’s telecommunications backbone. Also, they have made significant contributions to Jordan Telecom’s integration with regional and global markets, something they are very proud of. Now, with their increasing subscriber base and the resulting demands on the networks, it is essential that they work with the right partner to provide the most reliable and up-to-date services for their subscribers.
Orange hopeful of launching 4G services in the next 3 years (Jordan)
Mobile operator Orange Jordan has said that it will begin work on its network in order to provide 4G services to users.
According to reports, Nayla Khawam, CEO, Orange Jordan, said that the company will invest about US$ 70.4 million in 2012 to upgrade its 2G and 3G networks and start preparing for the provision of 4G service in no less than three years.
She added that the future is 4G services and they have already started their plans to introduce the technology, which will enable providing high-speed data services and other new services in the market. Khawam also said that the demand for 4G services will see a substantial increase in the next three years.
She also said that mobile operators need to focus more on data as compared with voice services. The 4G technology offers high speed internet access that enables users to browse the internet and use mobile apps in a more seamless manner.
