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According to to Ahmad Hiyasat, CEO of the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC), Jordan’s telecoms service providers bring in a total of USD1.3 billion in revenues last year, up by 9.8% on 2006’s figure. Hiyasat also said that Information and communications technology accounted for around 11% of gross domestic product at fixed prices in 2007, whilst estimating that total internet users in the country reached 1.2 million by the beginning of 2008. Over the last seven years, investments in the Kingdom’s telecoms sector reached JOD967 million.

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Jordanian regulator the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) has announced its decision on the provisioning of mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) services. Company wishing to act as an MVNO requires an Individual Licence. In accordance with the national numbering plan,  TRC will allocate unique blocks of 10,000 numbers to MVNOs. 10% of operating revenues will be required to pay by MVNOs to the TRC, annually in arrears.

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To provide subscribers with One-World Roaming services, Umniah, a leading provider of telecommunications services, recently joined the new Unified International Roaming service launched by Saudi Telecom, and Batelco Bahrain.

In August, 2008 this sevice will be instigated. This will provide travellers with fixed and low cost rates for calls during their stay at these countries. Customers will also receive a message explaining the roaming rates as well as the preferred roaming network in these respective countries. STC, Baleco Bahrain, and Umniah will be acting as one network.

VAS and Roaming Manager, Mr. Mohammad Serieh said, “We are proud to be amongst the pioneering providers of the One-World Roaming service in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. By inaugurating this partnership, we are making communication easier and less costly for subscribers traveling across KSA, Bahrain and for travelers coming to Jordan,”
Umniah had launched International Voice Short Message service (SMS) to Palestine last March to send voice SMS messages to make easy communication with friends and relatives living in Palestine.

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Jinny Software has today announced the successful trial of a powerful advertising solution that will underpin new revenue streams for Zain in Jordan in 2008, and beyond. Installed and tested in a matter of weeks, the solution quickly provided the capability to deliver advertisements over SMS messaging from any advertiser or agency. This solution gives Zain in Jordan the ability to take an early and strong position in an industry that is expected to earn US$18 billion by 201 .

Built on Jinny’s proven technologies in messaging and filtering, the Advertising Engine has the power to deliver tailored advertising in a variety of ways. Whether an advertisement should be inserted into peer-to-peer messaging traffic or as a pre-page video clip, the Advertising Engine – thanks to sophisticated keyword and profile matching – can ensure the advert is relevant and useful to its audience, the consumer. Built to deliver tailored, targeted advertising that consumers want, as opposed to spam, the Advertising Engine is poised to meet the growth and ARPU-increase needs of operators this year and into the future.

Speaking about the successful trial, Zain in Jordan’s Mobile Data Services Senior Manager, Ziad Al Masri, said, “We have been delighted with the results that Jinny’s Advertising Engine has delivered during these trials. They have highlighted the potential gains Zain in Jordan will benefit from as a result of implementing this solution on our network, as well as the benefits that our subscribers will derive from this sophisticated new service.”

Commenting on the ground-breaking trial, Max Wilkie, CEO of Jinny Software, said, “We are once again delighted to be able to deliver a world-class solution to the Zain Group. With the Advertising Engine from Jinny, Zain in Jordan is now able to exploit the expanding business of mobile advertising and take advantage of new and sustainable revenue streams. There is no doubt that both Zain in Jordan and Jinny can build on this success to explore other media and messaging solutions to offer an increasingly powerful channel to advertisers.”

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Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has issued a directive opening up the market to MVNOs. Virtual operators will be subject to approval by the TRC, which will issue the new operators with numbering sequences. The MVNOs will also be subject to the same quality of service regulations and be required to pay the annual operating fee to the TRC. Network operators will be required to offer network capacity on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis to the new operators. Network operators will also be prohibited from running any winback campaigns for six months after a customer signs up with an MVNO.

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Kuwait-based international cellular group MTC is to continue trading under the Celtel banner in its African operations for the forseeable future. Last week the group decided to change its name to Zain, and rebranded its mobile operators in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Sudan with immediate effect. Emmanuel Otokhine, public relations manager at Celtel Nigeria, said that keeping the Celtel brand on the continent would ensure certainty and continuity, particularly in the Nigerian and Kenyan operations, which rebranded to Celtel less than twelve months ago. Celtel currently operates in 14 African countries (not including Sudan): Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The group’s mobile subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia and Iraq are to be rebranded to Zain by early 2008.

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Batelco has achieved major growth in its mobile subscriber base over the past year, buoyed by the group’s expansion in Jordan and Yemen.

“In Jordan, Batelco’s subsidiary Umniah has achieved one million subscribers and SabaFon over 1.6m customers complementing Batelco’s 650,000 mobile customers in Bahrain,” Batelco chief executive Peter Kaliaropoulos aid.

“This milestone was reached at a time when competition is rapidly increasing in the Jordanian, Yemen and Bahrain telecom markets.”

As part of Batelco’s strategy for growth in the region’s telecom industry, the group acquired a 96 per cent shareholding in Umniah, Jordan’s fastest growing mobile operator for $415 million in June of last year.

“In Umniah we realised an exceptional performance of which we are justifiably proud. It gives impetus to our expansion drive and validates our major investment in buying the Umniah stake,” Kaliaropoulos said.

“Umniah will add a new string to its bow with the launch of WiMax-based broadband services for the Jordanian market later this year, a move which is expected to attract significant numbers of new customers to the company.”

Batelco’s purchase of a 20 per cent shareholding in Yemen’s leading mobile communications company, SabaFon, for $144 million in March of this year, has further boosted Batelco’s mobile distribution footprint.

“SabaFon is the largest GSM mobile operator in Yemen offering national coverage with over 500 base stations across the country.

“The company has over 1.6 million mobile subscribers, and with a population of over 22 million there is plenty of scope to see that figure rise,” Kaliaropoulos said.

“We will continue to build on our niche growth strategy in the Middle East by focusing in areas of substantial growth such as mobile operations and broadband.

“Our predictions for robust growth and cost and revenue synergies for the group, due to our overseas investments, are beginning to be realised.

“Batelco plans to continue their expansion drive, through targeted acquisitions of other operators and licences, either directly or with partners,” he added.

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Celtel International is considering a major re-branding strategy that would see it drop the ‘Celtel’ brand and adopt a completely new identity - Zain. The plan is expected to create unique difficulties in Kenya and Nigeria, where the Celtel brand is still quite new, as well as across all non-Arab operations. It is part of a long-term strategy by Kuwait’s MTC Group, which owns the mobile telephone operator, to re-invent itself through the launch of a global brand.

MTC, which has expanded significantly through acquisitions, is seeking to consolidate recent growth under one banner. “We have a new brand that will be launched as single global brand for all our operations,” Dr Saad Al-Barrak, MTC’s deputy chairman and chief executive officer, said recently. “We will start any new operation with this new global brand.”

Controversy

Controversy has already erupted over the brand name chosen. Critics feel Zain, leaked in Kuwait in early August, has limited appeal to cultures outside the Arab world. A recent valuation of MTC by analysts from investment banker Morgan Stanley found that Africa accounted for 70 per cent of the company’s fair value.

MTC Chairman, Mr Asa’ad Al Banwan , Celtel International Chairman, Mr Mo Ibrahim, and MTC Deputy Chairman & Managing Director, Dr Saad Al-Barrak. Photo by MTC

The new logo has also been described as too dark and moody. The re-branding process has reportedly begun in Kuwait and is expected to spread to other MTC-branded operations in the Middle East.

Change will come to Africa and its Celtel-branded operations from 2008. The new changes come shortly after a regional marketing blitz to announce the expansion of Celtel’s borderless mobile network to include the Republic of Congo, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo. The service was previously limited to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The decision to re-brand will create a costly marketing and logistical challenge for the Kenya and Nigeria operations, given that the two only recently re-branded to Celtel from KenCell and V-Mobile respectively.

The change from KenCell, which began in 2004, is yet to be completed by Celtel Kenya: Many of their telephone booths - admittedly an atrophied part of the business - are still branded KenCell. Nigeria’s switch from VMobile, which began last year, will also have to be scrapped.

A huge task

Speaking to FS during the Second Annual Connecting Rural Communities Africa Forum in Nairobi, Mr Mwaghazi Mwachofi, Celtel International Vice-President for Regulatory Affairs, confirmed that discussions on rebranding were in progress. “Nothing has been decided as yet, nothing concrete,” Mwachofi said when pressed on the matter.

“The Celtel brand is strong and powerful and re-branding is huge task.” MTC Kuwait is also expected to form a new subsidiary, MTC International, as a private company to hold all the MTC Group’s foreign assets and operations.

A newspaper report on the plan several weeks ago saw the Kuwait Stock Exchange halt trading in MTC shares pending clarification of the issues raised.

A local Arabic-language daily had reported that MTC was going to form an entity with $1.73 billion (Sh116 billion) in capital as an umbrella company under which MTC Kuwait and MTC International, called Zain, would operate.

The paper had also said the international unit would sell a stake - possibly 40 per cent or more - in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange next year. The re-branding confirms MTC’s ambitions to become one of the biggest mobile operators in the world.

The strategy

According Al-Barrak, the company was looking for a global brand that would work from China to Gabon, in Rio-de-Janeiro and Madras, in Moscow and Iceland. Currently, MTC is looking to fill gaps in sub-Saharan Africa - for example Angola Ethiopia and Senegal - and eyeing Saudi Arabia’s third licence. The company is also making noises about moving its headquarters because of Kuwait’s investor-unfriendly laws.

“The Kuwaiti business environment repels investment and the country’s laws are not good for a financial hub,” Al-Barrak was recently quoted as saying. Kuwait has been dragging its feet on reforms to create a more transparent stock exchange.

Another Kuwaiti law imposes a 55 per cent tax on foreign investors. MTC, Kuwait’s largest publicly traded company, said last week that it could move to Dubai or Bahrain, the Gulf’s financial centres, or to Amsterdam, headquarters of its subsidiary Celtel. The firm operates in Bahrain in partnership with Britain’s Vodafone Group and acquired Netherlands-based Celtel in 2005. It has no presence in Dubai. “MTC is today thinking on the global scale… especially since Kuwait accounts for only 15 per cent of its revenue, (a figure that) will fall below seven per cent in the next two years.” Incorporated in 1983 in Kuwait, MTC now has a presence in 20 countries.

The Group is a leading mobile operator in six Middle Eastern and 14 sub-Saharan African countries providing a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services to over 29.7 million active individual and business customers.

It operates in Kuwait and Bahrain as MTCVodafone, in Jordan as Fastlink, in Iraq as MTC-Atheer, in Lebanon as MTC-Touch and in Sudan as Mobitel. It also has 14 operations in sub-Saharan Africa as Celtel. These are Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The company has also won Saudi Arabia’s third mobile license and is expected to roll-out a network soon. The change of identity is part of MTC’s plan to re-brand its operations across all networks in line with their “three by three by three (3×3x3)” strategy.

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AT&T announced on Monday that it is expanding its presence in the Middle East, with network node deployments in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and a virtual private network services (VPN) contract across the region with Ericsson.
AT&T is ramping up its services in the Middle East, “as part of an ongoing strategic investment in the region,” said a company statement, released at Gulfcomms 2007.

In cooperation with Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) and NavLink, a company in which AT&T has a minority stake, the network node first announced by the U.S. carrier last year is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2007.

The new infrastructure is being rolled out to allow AT&T and NavLink customers interconnectivity with STC’s national MPLS network.

AT&T also said it is working with QualityNet and NavLink again, to deploy a network node in Kuwait.

The deal will allow AT&T to offer IP-VPN services to Kuwaiti-based enterprises, as well as multinationals looking to expand their Middle East presence, said AT&T.

The Kuwaiti MPLS node is expected to be activated during 2008, and the telecoms giant said it is growing its Dubai-based sales and support team in order to complement its expanded network reach.

The expansion initiatives form part of a $750 million global investment programme announced by the telecoms giant earlier in the year.

The U.S.-based carrier said at the time it planned in 2007 to focus on high-growth emerging markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America, as well as the Middle East.

Furthermore, in a separate announcement also made Monday, AT&T said it has been selected by Ericsson to provide VPN services across the Middle East region in a contract worth $6 million.

AT&T said the deal will see it provide services to Ericsson’s operations in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

“A reliable network, backed by a comprehensive service level agreement, the ability to execute locally and speedy implementation, were all key requirements for us when choosing our network provider in the Middle East,” said Carl-Magnus Månsson, CIO of Ericsson, in a statement.

“We are dedicated to the Middle East as a growth area of our business and feel that this is matched by the commitment that AT&T has made to the region,” he added.

“Through our direct investment in NavLink, partnerships with other key players in the Middle Eastern telecommunications market and our regional office in Dubai, we are confident that we can serve the needs of enterprises in these high-growth markets,” said Tom Regent, head of EMEA operations, AT&T, in a statement.

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Kuwait-based international cellular group MTC has changed its name to Zain. The group has rebranded its mobile operations in four countries – Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Sudan – with immediate effect, with its businesses in 17 other Middle East and African countries to be renamed in 2007/08.

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