Batelco Group today announced its results for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2011, which the telco described as being marked by growth and diversification of the its customer and revenue base from across the seven markets in which it operates.

Gross revenue for the period came in at BD245.5 million (US$651 million), down four per cent from the BD256.1 million reported over the same period in 2010. EBITDA for the nine months stood at BD93 million, down 16 per cent year-on-year.

Consolidated net income came in at BD56.5 million, down 14 per cent year-on-year, with the group subscriber base surpassing 11 million, an increase of eight per cent and 41 per cent quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, respectively.

37 per cent of revenues and 29 per cent of operating profit were sourced from markets outside Bahrain during the nine months to end-September.

Gross revenue specifically for Q311 amounted to BD82.3 million, down four per cent year-on-year, while net revenue was down by seven per cent to BD 60.3 million.

Batelco Group thus reported an operating profit of BD18.9 million for Q311, down 29 per cent year-on-year. EBITDA for the three months to end-September amounted to BD28.3 million, down 22 per cent from the year earlier.

Batelco reported it is free of debt and as of September 30 had substantial cash and bank balances of BD86.8 million reflecting a 65 per cent increase over the same period last year.

“Since the end of Q2, we have added more than 800,000 new subscribers to our customer base, which now exceeds 11 million across the MENA region and India,” commented Batelco chairman, Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. “This increase underscores the ongoing growth of our business and the strength of our offering despite a year-over-year decline in the group’s revenues and profitability.”

Zain Saudi Arabia’s chairman, Hussam bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz has announced that the board has agreed to the cellco undergoing a reduction of its capital followed by a SAR6 billion (US$1.6 billion) rights issue, subject to the consent of the Capital Market Authority, the ministry of Industry and Commerce and the approval of other relevant parties.

The capital reduction will result in the company’s paid-up capital being reduced from SAR14 billion to SAR 4.8 billion. The paid-up capital will be subsequently increased to SAR 10.801 billion by way of the rights issue.

The rights issue will consist of raising fresh equity and the capitalisation of subordinated shareholder loans to the company. The fresh equity will, subject to obtaining the relevant approvals, be used to reduce bank debt, enhance the quality and performance of the existing network as well as to expand the company’s recently launched 4G LTE network. The fresh equity will also be used to fund the future growth of the company, while the capitalisation of the shareholder loans will further reduce the debt levels of the company.

The capital reduction and the rights issue will be subject to shareholder approval at respective extraordinary general assemblies of the company, to be held after all relevant consents and approvals have been obtained.

Motorola Solutions today announced the commercial release of Motorola Public Safety LTE with shipments beginning on November 11, 2011. Motorola’s successful alliances with Ericsson, the global market leader in carrier LTE networks, and Verizon Wireless, the provider of the fastest, most advanced 4G mobile network in America, have resulted in this standards-based solution that provides the foundation for next generation public safety communications. Combined with a complete suite of Public Safety LTE services that span planning, integration, support and hosting, Motorola is helping to accelerate broadband multimedia capabilities in public safety.

Key facts

· Motorola’s Public Safety LTE provides an end-to-end LTE solution built for public safety broadband with devices, applications, networks and services.

· The commercial release of Public Safety LTE offers fully tested and operational devices including Motorola’s recently announced Public Safety LTE vehicular modem (VML700) and USB data modem (UM1000).

· The Motorola and Ericsson strategic alliance enables LTE technology to be used in mission-critical communications.

· The Ericsson LTE eNode B equipment, RBS 6000, included in Motorola’s Public Safety LTE solution complies with 3GPP Release 9, exceeding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Public Safety Communications Research Program (PSCR) mandate of 3GPP Release 8.

Lebanon’s government has announced that the country’s two mobile networks will be formally permitted to launch 3G services following several delays.

Telecom minister Nicolas Sehnaoui also announced that the service would be fixed at the equivalent of US$19 for 500Mb of data downloads.

Lebanon’s two state-owned – but BOT operators, Alfa (Orascom Telecom) and Zain, will offer 3G subscriptions and will announce the rates for other packages in early November.

There had been concerns earlier this summer that legal action from an ISP, Cedarcom could delay the launch as it claimed the government did not have the authority to issue 3G licences.

The ISP also claimed that the regulatory regime was blocking it from selling landline DSL based services, which it considers to be unfair and unjust competition.

The two networks recently awarded contracts to deploy HSPA enabled 3G networks.

The managing companies have renewing one-year contracts to manage the networks – which the government has repeatedly attempted to privatise but the sale has been blocked by political problems.

Motorola Mobility is expected to unveil its latest version of its once wildly popular RAZR device at an event to be held in Dubai on October 25.

The RAZR is just 7.1 millimetres thin and is set to become available in North America, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa starting next month. Boasting a sculpted glass face, diamond-cut aluminium accents and a hyper-vibrant 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display for vivid images, the Motorola RAZR also sports KEVLAR fibre and Corning Gorilla glass to help the screen stand up to scratches and scrapes.

The device possesses a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor with 1GB of RAM, all powered by Android 2.3.5.

“Motorola RAZR is an iconic brand, and one that originally revolutionised the mobile device industry by turning a functional necessity into an object of desire,” said Sanjay Jha, chairman and CEO, Motorola Mobility at the introduction of the event in the US last week. “Now we’ve done it again with a head-turning, ultra-thin smartphone that offers users breath-taking speed, innovative apps and revolutionary accessories.”