Wireless Federation

Qtel launches mhealth service (Qatar)

On 01.06.12, In Mobile, By Editor

Telecommunications provider Qtel has reportedly launched a mobile health service enabling users in Iraq, Palestine and Kuwait to receive personalized health tips on their mobile phones. According to reports, the telecom operator will organize mhealth workshops in partnership with GSMA in an attempt to raise awareness and reach out to more customers.

As per sources, the operator believes that mobile health helps provide people living in remote areas access to necessary medical information. Reports reveal that Dr. Craig Fridericks, Director (Health), GSMA, said that they are working with mobile network operators (MNO) worldwide to highlight how they can implement mHealth initiatives into the market that will offer significant health and lifestyle benefits to end users.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Dr. Craig Fridericks • GSMA • Iraq • Kuwait • mHealth • Qtel

Zain Saudi shares dip as sale of its stake fails (Saudi Arabia)

On 10.12.11, In Mobile Operators, By Editor

Kingdom Holding Co. and Bahrain based Batelco had planned to acquire a quarter of Zain Saudi for $950 million, but have now dropped the idea saying that terms of the deal were not met. Following the failure of this deal, Zain Saudi seeks to go ahead with a multibillion dollar capital restructuring.

The firm has accumulated losses of about $2.3 billion and has to cut its capital in order to comply with Saudi Arabia bourse rules. As per reports, Zain Saudi Chairman, Prince Hussam Bin Saud has said that they expect to achieve high growth levels and turn into profit as soon as the period for capital restructuring is completed, which is expect to speed up after the failure of the deal to sell Zain Kuwait’s share.

As per reports, industry analysts say Zain Saudi’s $6.1 billion license fee has left it short of cash and struggling to compete in Saudi’s Arabia’s saturated mobile market. The shares dropped by 4.8 percent reporting the largest intraday loss since August 6, and traded down 3.2 percent at $ 1.61 in Riyadh.

Filed under:Mobile Operators Tagged with: Bahrain • Kingdom Holding Co. • Kuwait • Saudi Arabia • Zain

Wataniya posts soaring profits on the back of revenue jump (Kuwait)

On 08.08.11, In Mobile, By Editor

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The Kuwaiti telco witnesses a robust growth in revenue on the back of strong domestic and Algeria operations.

Wataniya Telecom also, known as National Mobile Telecommunications Co. based in Kuwait stated that its net profit for the second quarter rose by 18.7% to $85.4 million from $71.9 million the preceding year for the same period; Tunisian operations have been significantly attributed by the jump in revenue.

Earlier, analysts had predicted a figure in the tune of $83.68 million while one other source forecast $74.87 million; the telecom’s results have exceeded them all.

There was an increase of 35.2% in revenue for the quarter to $669.11 million as compared to $494.76 million in the same quarter the preceding year.

The telco also witnessed a rise in its customer base by 6.8% to hit 16.9 million by the end of the second quarter, as compared to 15.8 million for the same period the preceding year.

According to Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Wataniya Telecom, Year on Year revenue increase of 15.4% in Kuwait and 30.6% in Algeria shows that investments of previous periods are starting to pay off and that they are capable of driving progress in competitive markets. On the other hand, Tunisiana’s robust performance demonstrates the ability to overcome challenges and produce solid results.

Qatar Telecom or Qtel which is the Gulf Arab state’s largest telecom operator, in partnership with Tunisian investment firm Princesse Holding asserted on November 22 that they would pay Orascom Telecom $1.2 billion for its 50% stake in its Tunisian unit, Tunisiana. Eventually, Qtel completed the acquisition through Wataniya Telecom whose majority stakes it owns. In addition, Qtel had raised its stake in Tunisiana to 75% earlier this year.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Algeria • Kuwait • operator • Qatar • Tunisia

Continued subscriber growth fuels 17% rise in Zain profits (Kuwait)

On 08.02.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Zain posted a 2% increase in its revenues for the first half to record $2.38 billion, discounting cash inflow and capital gain in the wake of the sale of the Zain Africa assets, closed in June 2010.

The company’s net profit also rose by 17% to $506.5 million, in comparison to the figures from last year for the same period.

Zain also recorded a 16% year-on-year growth in subscriber base across its all operations, and as on 30 June, 2011, the telco boasted of 39.6 million active subscribers. In the same vein, there were 5.4 million new adopters of the Zain Group in the last twelve months; Saudi Arabia contributing the highest with 32% growth, and accounting for 9.1 million customers in total while Sudan witnessing a 24% growth, taking the tally of customers to 11.4 million. In addition, the subscriber base for Zain Kuwait rose by 7%, propelling the number of customers to 2 million while Jordan with 5.5% increase and Iraq 5.2% saw their customer base reach 2.7 million and 12.3 million respectively.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain, Mr Asaad Al Banwan stated that although consolidated revenues increased a moderate 2%, it gratifies the company that it attained an impressive 17% net income growth and EBIT and EBITDA growth of both 6% respectively. In addition, these results augur well, especially when one considers that the net profit for the half year was adversely affected by currency fluctuations of an amount of $ 75 million.

While Zain Group CEO Mr Nabeel Bin Salamah noted that Zain has emerged as the market leader in terms of customer numbers across five of its seven operations. He also stated that the telco is all set to concluding an outsourcing agreement with an unnamed vendor.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Iraq • Jordan • Kuwait • operator • Saudi Arabia • Sudan

Airtel call rates up by 20% in major circles, other telcos may follow suit (India)

On 07.25.11, In Mobile, By Editor

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Bharti Airtel announces 20% hike in call rates across six major circles. Primarily the pre-paid customers in regions including New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, are expected to be affected by the hike in tariff.

The hike represents rates going up from 1 paise per second to 1.2 paise per second. Market watchers expect other telecom service providers to take cue from Airtel and hike their tariffs as well.

As on June, there were 2.12 million new mobile subscribers who had adopted Bharti Airtel, according to sources while the total number of subscribers stood at 169.2 million.

India is only second to China in terms of the size of the mobile phone market. In addition, Airtel happens to be the fifth-largest mobile operator in terms of the number of subscribers based on worldwide subscriber base. The telecom operator has stamped its presence in 19 countries across South Asia and Africa.

At the beginning of this month, a streamlining process in a bid to create a leaner cost structure thereby boost its financial performance, across its India and South Asia operations was announced by Bharti Airtel.

Bharti has taken to the restructuring process at a time when its competitors have triggered fierce domestic competition by way of reducing call tariffs, in addition to Airtel fighting high interest costs from debt accumulated as a result of acquiring mobile licences in India and its African acquistitions.

The acquisition of the Kuwaiti telecom operator Zain had drained Bharti’s coffers of $10.7 billion last June.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: China • India • Kuwait • operator

Bharti Airtel clears final payment with Zain for African networks (Kuwait)

On 06.24.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Kuwait-based Zain announced the receipt of the final tranche in the amount of $700 million from Bharti Airtel. The Indian compnay paid up the remaining amount as part of the purchase the preceding year of Zain’s African networks.

According to a statement issued by the company, it said that with reference to the June 8, 2010 sale of Zain’s African assets with the exception of Morocco and Sudan, and specifically to the deferred installment of $700 million, they would like to inform the stock holders that the company has received that amount, in accordance with the agreement of the transaction, in which the sum was to be paid one year after the transaction, conditional on the completion of both the final approvals and of the sale and transfer of property.

In retrospect, the amount was already calculated as profits in the financial statements of the second quarter, 2010. Therefore, it will not have any consequence on the financial statements for the current quarter, 2011.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: India • Kuwait • Morocco • operator • Sudan

Wataniya Telecom begins BlackBerry promotion (Kuwait)

On 06.03.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Wataniya Telecom has announced that it will be organizing a month-long event in partnership with Research In Motion (RIM) to celebrate the BlackBerry experience.

Wataniya’s BlackBerry smartphone customers, or anyone who is interested in learning about the world of BlackBerry, are invited to come along and update their smartphones, install the latest programs including BlackBerry App World, get free accessories for their handset and more.

The company is also promoting a new offer which enables users to select from four of the latest BlackBerry smartphones on a monthly installment package, starting at US$18.17 per month.

Customers will also get a two-month free subscription when they sign up for one year to any of Wataniya’s postpaid plans for BlackBerry smartphones, including the Social Networking and Messaging plans for US$25.44 for 30 days.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Kuwait • operator

Qtel adds Bollywood Music Comes to Backstage (Qatar)

On 06.03.11, In Mobile, By Editor

The Qtel Group’s popular mobile music service, Backstage, took another giant jump forward today, as Bollywood and South Asian entertainment from Hungama Mobile were added to the song catalogue.

Top ten hits including Dhinka Chika, from the album “Ready”, Pee Loon Hoto Ki Sargam from “Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai” and Sajid-Wajid’s popular love song “Tere Mast Mast Do Nain” can now all be easily downloaded to a laptop or mobile with Backstage, Backstage customers in Qatar who have selected the Premium Package can automatically update their Backstage application and have immediate access to the Hungama catalogue.

Alternatively, new customers can select the special Bollywood Package from Backstage for just QR15 a month. The pioneering Qtel-Hungama partnership will allow Backstage customers to download the latest hits from Indian and Bollywood content as well as Pakistani, Afghani and Tamil music genres.

Hungama Mobile’s content library includes hit music from films such as Tees Maar Khan, and Dabanng, as well as music from the films of leading superstars such as Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, and Priyanka Chopra.

Backstage offers unlimited music downloads for mobile phones and PCs, as well as privileged access to industry stars and music heroes. With an easy subscription process via SMS, PC or WAP, and for a minimal flat-rate monthly fee, customers can enjoy unlimited downloads from an international catalogue of more than one million international tracks.

Backstage customers can build their own collections, create playlists to suit their mood, search by track, artist, genre or album, and share playlists with other fans and friends, through a specially-designed interface.

For English language musical tracks, Backstage has partnered with the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, which represents a host of the most famous names in music, including Lady Gaga, Akon, Justin Bieber, Enrique Iglesias, Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, 50 Cent, Nelly Furtado, Stevie Wonder, Sting, and Kanye West, among many others.

Backstage also offers unlimited access to two of the region’s most popular Arabic labels, Melody and Mazzika – which represent leading Arab artists including Amr Diab, Ragheb Alama, Haifa Wehbe, Myriam Fares, Abdallah El-Rweished, Angham, Asala, and many more – to provide a wide range of choice and value to customers. Backstage is now available through Qtel in Qatar, Nawras in Oman and Wataniya in Kuwait, with a forthcoming launch in Indonesia – including local music listings – planned for the summer of 2011.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: India • Indonesia • Kuwait • Oman • operator • Pakistan • Qatar

Zain Kuwait introduces ‘Drive Zain’ safety campaign

On 06.02.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Zain Kuwait has introduced a campaign to highlight the dangers of using mobile phones while driving christened ‘Drive Zain’.

The first phase comprises of a multimedia campaign, which Zain’s other operations across the Middle East will soon adopt.

Slogans like “Ignore your best friend”, “Reject your mom’s call” and “Hang up on your wife” highlight the importance of not being distracted while driving, while more graphic messages, such as an image of a burning car with the slogan “Got the message?” and actual crashed vehicles placed in public spaces will be used to reinforce the idea of responsible motoring. The multimedia campaign will run across TV, print, billboards and radio; in talk shows and interviews; and on Facebook and Twitter.

Phase two of the ‘Drive Zain’ program will include Zain Kuwait holding road shows with the MOI to visit private and government schools and universities, open panel sessions to encourage dialogue between MOI and youths, traffic applications and services for the MOI, and lobbying the Kuwait Parliament to implement safe driving measures and consequences. Kuwait has the highest number of traffic-related deaths in the world (the Middle East ranks second in the world for road fatalities with a ratio of 26 deaths per 100,000), and the advent of smartphones has only made the situation worse as customers talk, text and even play games while driving.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Kuwait • operator

Vodafone extends World Calling Club promotion (Qatar)

On 05.31.11, In Mobile, By Editor

Vodafone Qatar has extended its World Calling Club international call rates to more than 180 countries for just US$17.69 a minute until June 30.

All of the most popular calling destinations are included in this promotion, which included Bahrain, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Iran, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America and Yemen.

Vodafone is also extending until 30 June its International Calling Card 25 offer that gives customers 51 minutes of talk time at a rate of US$0.13 a minute. The countries included in this are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand, Syria, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Filed under:Mobile Tagged with: Bahrain • Bangladesh • Canada • China • Egypt • France • Germany • Ghana • India • Indonesia • Iran • Italy • Japan • Jordan • Kenya • Kuwait • Lebanon • Malaysia • Nepal • Niger • Nigeria • Oman • operator • Pakistan • Philippines • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • South Africa • Spain • Sri Lanka • Sudan • Syria • Tanzania • Thailand • Turkey • United Arab Emirates • United Kingdom • Yemen