Vodafone Qatar has been issued a licence by the Supreme Council of Information and Technology (ictQatar) to operate the country’s second fixed line telephone service. Initially, Vodafone Qatar will start operating at The Pearl-Qatar, after complying with ictQatar’s requirements, including changing its articles of association in the next three months and paying the licence fee of US$27,000...

Uruguay is a regional leader in several key indicators, such as adult literacy, teledensity, and Internet penetration. It was able to weather the global financial crisis better than most other Latin American countries while the downturn had little impact on its telecom market. A new report from companies and markets - Uruguay - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Forecasts - reinforces this optimistic appraisal...

Steve Subar, CEO and President of OK Labs, believes that users should have just one platform to serve all their needs. Virtualisation makes that a reality...

Gulf Bridge International (GBI) and Iran’s TIC have signed an agreement for GBI’s submarine cable to enter Iran. The newly established submarine cable operator and TIC, which is the sole provider of telecoms infrastructure to all private and public operators in Iran, inked the agreement on 21 April. TIC is also the sole responsible party for all international gateways and IP capacity and connectivity services in the country...

To further develop its growth in key vertical markets across Saudi Arabia, Thuraya is aggressively expanding its commercial activities within the oil and gas, government and other sectors in partnership with its national service provider Farhan Commercial Company (FCC). The Saudi service provider has started a marketing campaign to roll out Thuraya’s IP solution and Thuraya XT, described as the world’s toughest satellite phone, in the Saudi Arabian market...

Gilat Satellite Networks will be providing a SkyEdge II broadband satellite communications network to its long-standing customer Astel, one of Kazakhstan's telecoms operators...

Under the heading of its new report Survival Strategies for Fixed-line Telecommunications Operators in Sub-Saharan Africa, Research and Markets is strident in its advice to the fixed-line sector. Michael Schwartz comments...

Mobile payment specialist Mobibucks has seen a significant increase in demand for its products in the last six months in the Middle East/ North Africa (MENA) region. Mobibucks offers “unique” payment and incentive products for making purchases using a mobile phone number...

In its efforts to regain momentum the portable PC market in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa has witnessed strong growth of 22% in 1Q10. The finding comes in the latest issue of IDC 's EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker...

Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has become the first Russian operator to outsource its network operations, in a deal with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). The company aims to reduce its overall costs while increasing organisational flexibility, transparency and the predictability of its operational expenses. With this managed services agreement, MTS will be able to simplify its overall network operations model, which is especially important with the rollout of 3G services for millions of subscribers in Russia’s central region...

Global mobile handset shipments totaled approximately 1.15 billion in 2009, with enhanced phones and smartphones capturing approximately 81% of all handset shipments, according to the latest data from ABI research...

A standalone product for making NFC payments is set to deliver full Near Field Communication (NFC) experience to mobile banking customers worldwide. Inside Contactless, Sagem Orga (Safran Group) and TazTag have announced the joint development of a new method of delivering NFC payment functionality...

For a whole week, air travel in Europe was paralysed by the effects of volcanic ash belched into the atmosphere by a volcano on Iceland. There had been more disruption since the tragedy of 9/11. While, in one case, the USA struggled to bring 40,000 of its citizens home, the telecoms sector has been trying to make the best of a particularly challenging and difficult situation...

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has chosen Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to modernise and upgrade its 3G network. Qtel’s aim is to offer its subscribers an improved smartphone experience, including faster broadband speeds, while paving the way for next-generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. To make this happen, the operator has chosen NSN “to modernise its network and enhance capacity.”...

4G is clearly a very powerful marketing at present. Ned Taleb, CEO and Co-Founder of Nexius, offers his executive commentary on why he thinks 4G is one of this year’s most buzzed-about topics...

Spirit, the provider of carrier-grade voice and video software engines for desktop and mobile video-conferencing, has demonstrated its TeamSpirit video-conferencing engine on iPad, iPhone and Android devices to selected customers in China, Korea, Europe and the USA...

Strand Consult has been evaluating the impact of the Apple iPad on the mobile and ISP sectors - a development which should get mobile operators and ISPs thinking about its implications.

A television audience of 200 million is enjoying high-quality broadcasts of sport, in particular, the Indian Premier League Twenty 20 (IPL T20) cricket tournament, thanks to high-definition content acquisition, contribution and distribution from Ericsson...

Maroc Telecom, the wireless and wireline telecom operator, has launched Mobi Cash, a fund-transfer system powered by Comviva, which provides mobile solutions beyond basic Value-Added Services...

A new Arab Advisors Group survey of Egypt's Internet users reveals insightful details on the Internet and e-commerce use in Egypt. This major online survey of Egypt's Internet market revealed that 34.6% of adult Internet users in Egypt use e-commerce (including bill payments)...

Distimo and the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) have issued a report on Apple’s App Store in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The two organisations have concluded that the most popular applications are priced higher in the emerging markets than in the USA, where games are more popular...

In an initiative to harness common responses to face a global challenge, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO, the London-based premier ICT agency of the Commonwealth) is organising a cyber-security forum on 17-18 June 2010 in London, in partnership with the UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the UK’s Office of Cyber-Security (OCS). The forum promises to bring together high level delegates and key decision makers from the public and private sectors together with the civil society from across the Commonwealth, to promote international cooperation in cyber-security...

CBOSS Corporation has deployed a comprehensive convergent integrated solution, CBOSSconvergence³, in Palestine. With the new solution, Wataniya Mobile, which is new to Palestine, was able to deploy an intelligent IT infrastructure and provide high-quality communications and Internet access to its users...

Strategic investment by Avnet will expand its ASEAN coverage and will establish a platform to grow its IT solutions distribution business. Avnet has just acquired some of the assets of Indonesia’s  PT Datamation Purwana Utama and PT Mitra Bisinfo Utama (Datamation). Founded in 1990, Datamation is a value-added IT distributor providing server, storage and software products to enterprise system integrators and resellers throughout Indonesia...

APC, part of Schneider Electric specialising in integrated critical power and cooling services, has launched a smart charging and remote battery management system for stationary batteries in data centres and facilities. APC Battery Management System is a comprehensive approach that will not only perform the usual monitoring tasks but will also mitigate the potential for problems caused by under- and over-charging of batteries. It will improve availability by ensuring batteries are optimally charged and ready for use...

A new report from Companies and Markets supplies information on the El Salvador telecoms market, stressing the challenges and changes that the country faces. El Salvador - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband sets telecoms in the overall context of El Salvador before  commenting on recent developments...

Inside Contactless, a provider of open-standard contact-less chip technologies, has announced that its MicroPass 4003 contact-less intelligent payment processor is powering the MasterCard PayPass contact-less payment technology recently launched in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

Subex, which provides Operations and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) for CSPs (Communications Service Providers), is set to strengthen its presence in Latin America. It is to provide its ROC fraud management system under a contract with Telefónica Ingeniería de Seguridad (TIS), who are acting for Movistar Colombia...

Zoom Technologies, a China-based manufacturer of mobile phones and other mobile electronic products, has unveiled the Leimone E63, its first in a series of 3G Leimone brand phones. The E63 supports CDMA2000/GSM dual-mode with two card slots, UIM and SIM, and is designed specifically for China Telecom's 3G network recently rolled out in China...

Zain Bahrain has showcased the MENA region’s first LTE call, achieving a download data speed of 70 Mb/s. In a trial to demonstrate its LTE readiness, Zain Bahrain “proved its preparedness and commitment” to mass-scale deployment of this advanced technology just six months after announcing the Middle East’s first LTE contract with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN)...

Research and Markets has announced the addition of African Mobile Voice Market and Major Network Operators to its range of reports. This annual report deals with mobile communications and mobile data markets in 38 African countries...

VocalTec Communications, which provides carrier-class VoIP and convergence solutions for fixed and wireless service providers, has announced that Smart Mobile, a mobile service provider in Cambodia, has selected and deployed VocalTec’s Class-4 International Gateway solution to enable seamless VoIP termination and network economies allowing for improved end-user pricing strategies...

Mobile telephony and data in fourteen Middle Eastern countries has just been by Research and Markets in its Middle Eastern Mobile Voice and Operators Market report. Higher penetration rates and consequent lower ARPU constitute a key finding.

A new research report commissioned by Zain and Ericsson highlights the socio-economic impact of mobile telephony in Sudan. It reveals how mobile communications in Sudan is creating jobs, generating wealth and saving lives.