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Orange subsidiary eyes opportunities in new markets

Orange is sponsoring the Africa Cup of Nations 2013 pan-African football tournament in South Africa

Global operator group Orange has launched a subsidiary that aims to increase its brand awareness in countries where it is not already present as a mass-market telecommunications provider.

Russia’s MTS closes down Uzbek operation

MTS is closing down its subsidiary in Uzbekistan following a criminal case

Russian operator MTS has announced that Uzdunrobita, the operator’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Uzbekistan, has filed a petition to declare bankruptcy in the Tashkent Commercial Court. The subsidiary has made all of its 300 to 400 staff remaining staff redundant, according to local reports, following a criminal case against its employees.

Orange signs exclusive deal with China’s Baidu for Middle East and Africa

Orange has partnered with Chinese search engine Baidu on a mobile web browser for the MEA region

France-based mobile operator Orange has signed an exclusive partnership with China’s premier search provider Baidu to bring a mobile web browser to customers in the Middle East and Africa.

Orange Business Services sets up Qatar JV

Orange Business Services sets up in Qatar

With its sights set on capitalising on the growth across the Middle East, Orange Business Services, has announced the launch of an enterprise-focused joint venture in Qatar.

Qtel ups Tunisiana holding to 90%

tunis

Qatari incumbent operator Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has announced that it is to acquire a further 15 per cent stake in its Tunisian counterpart, Tunisiana, from the North African country’s government. Q-Tel already holds a direct 75 per cent stake in Tunisiana through its subsidiary Wataniya and this latest 15 per cent, for which Q-Tel is paying US$360m, will take its holding to 90 per cent.

Etisalat brings AR to subscribers

Etisalat has partnered with Ogle Middle East, to roll out its application to the operator's 100 million-plus subscribers

UAE-based operator group Etisalat has teamed up with app developer Ogle Middle East to roll out the Ogle application to its 100 million-plus mobile subscribers across the Middle East and Africa regions. The app uses augmented reality (AR) technology from platform developer Aurasma.

Libya’s considerable ICT potential rests on good regulation

The total value of mobile money transfers in Africa is expected to exceed $200bn in 2015

The Libyan revolution destroyed an estimated $1bn in telecoms infrastructure, the new administration has yet to prove itself, and the country’s security has still not completely stabilised. Nonetheless, Etisalat, France Telecom, Vodafone, VimpelCom, Orascom, Q-Tel and Bharti Airtel, among others, have all expressed strong interest in either acquiring a new license in Libya or buying into an existing operator.

Africa gets its game on

Need for speed

Middle Eastern developer and publisher Nazara Technologies has struck a partnership with gaming giant EA to bring high end games to over 770 million mobile users across 49 countries in Africa.

Almost 80 LTE networks launched in 12 months

LTE is now available from 113 operators across 51 countries

There are now 45 per cent more operators investing in LTE than a year ago, according to the latest report from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). The GSA report highlights the continued growth in the technology and the surrounding eco-system since its inception in late 2009. A total of 113 operators have now launched LTE across 51 countries, 77 of which were launched in the past 12 months. Some 195 further networks are in the development stages and 209 networks are forecast to have launched by the end of 2013.

Nawras CTO: “LTE is moving the region into the lead”

Wolfgang Wemhoff is CTO of Nawras, Oman,

Wolfgang Wemhoff is CTO of Nawras, Oman, part of the Qtel Group. He is speaking at the LTE MENA conference, taking place on the 13th-14th May 2013 at the JW Marriott Marquis, Dubai. Ahead of the show we speak to him on where Nawras is with this LTE deployment and learn more about the technical challenges it is facing.

Superfast Cornwall and Alca-Lu among this year’s Broadband InfoVision Awards winners

Broadband InfoVision Awards 2012 winners

The winners of this year’s Broadband InfoVision Awards were announced last night at a gala dinner ceremony in Amsterdam, with UK public-private partnership Superfast Cornwall scooping the Changing Lives award and Alcatel-Lucent leaving with two trophies.

Broadband InfoVision Awards: Changing Lives Award

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With just one week to go until this year’s Broadband InfoVision Awards ceremony in Amsterdam, we deliver our final category preview, ending on a suitably upbeat note with the Changing Lives Award.

Global broadband penetration passes one-third of all homes

Verizon, TeliaSonera and Qualcomm were each buoyed by their quarterly results

More than one-third of the world’s households will have a fixed broadband connection by the end of this year, according to US firm ABI Research, which is forecasting there will be 618.7mn subscribers to fixed broadband services by the end of 2012, up 7.3% from one year previously.

Turkcell puts mobile wallet in SIM

Turkcell has launched a mobile wallet app for its 28 million subscribers

Turkish operator Turkcell has launched a SIM-based mobile wallet that works on smartphones, using a native application, as well as feature phones. It also supports contactless payment on NFC-enabled phones.

Broadband InfoVision Awards: Best Broadband Experience Award

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With just two weeks to go until this year’s Broadband InfoVision Awards ceremony in Amsterdam, we preview the shortlisted entries for the category Best Broadband Experience Award.