Zain announced today that it has selected Ericsson to upgrade its network with the technology supplier’s network core switch technology and charging system solutions, paving the way for the quick and cost-effective future introduction of new services such as 4G/LTE.

The five-year contract also includes charging solutions and related services.

UAE-based regional MVNO, Friendi Group today announced that following the recent legal completion of the regional partnership between Friendi and Virgin Group, the company has changed its name to Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa (VMMEA).

The renamed group will manage the local operating companies of Friendi Group and Virgin in Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, and with more than 1 million customers and above US$150 million in annualised revenue, VMMEA is the leader in the regional MVNO/B-Brand space.

While the group is changing its name, in the local markets it will keep operating under the current Virgin Mobile and “Friendi Mobile brands, and for existing as well as new markets the company plans to operate both brands to address different market segments where possible.

In 2011 Ericsson counted 12 managed services contracts in the region and 70 million subscribers under management at the end of the year. The demand for such services underlies an increasing awareness by service providers to be first-to-market with products and services as well as the cost savings inherent in well-planned and implemented efficiency drives

Akesson says service providers are focussed on business innovation through the development of new vertical markets to address

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Middle East operators including UAE telco Du are considering an alliance to create an Arabic online social platform to secure revenue they are deemed to be losing out on from over-the-top (OTT) players, reports Reuters.

With more than 350 million Arabic speakers globally and a large number of operators affiliated to Middle East operator groups, supporters of such a project say it has potential to succeed.

Social networks and other OTT companies are benefiting from using mobile networks to build their business without generating revenue for the operators.

The demand for broadband data across Africa continues unabated, and in Zimbabwe one of the first of a dozen licensed Internet access providers, Dandemutande Investments’ Umax, launched service in June promising a wholly differentiated offering to what consumers have so far been used to

Zimbabwe’s capital Harare has seen a dramatic rise in broadband investment and coverage, both wireless and wireline, in recent years

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