South Africa’s third mobile network operator, Cell C announced that its CEO, Jeffrey Hedberg has resigned with immediate effect and been replaced by Lars Reichelt, who recently headed up Bangladeshi network, Banglalink.

Reichelt, left, is a former CEO of Banglalink and has been appointed to lead Cell C

Hedberg will continue in his role as chairman of Virgin Mobile South Africa (VMSA), which has a reseller agreement with Cell C. “I will work closely with the VMSA management team during its re-positioning. I am also currently considering new and challenging roles, within and outside of the Oger Group and look forward to building on the success that I had in South Africa.

Hedberg joined Cell C in May 2006, replacing long-term CEO Talaat Laham. Hedberg is a former CEO and chairman of Deutsche Telekom USA, while Laham went on to join Bahrain based Hits Telecom, as the head of its Africa operations.

Cell C ended last year with an estimated 6.34 million customers, representing a market share of 13.5 per cent. Having launched in November 2001, Cell C is still yet to record a profit.

Mada Communications has become the latest operator in Jordan to launch WiMAX, with service initially being offered in Amman, along with the major cities of Irbid and Zaraq. Mada Communications has the intention to expand the network nationwide in due course.

Motorola supplied WiMAX access points as well as indoor and outdoor customer premises equipment and portable plug-in devices.Motorola also integrated its WiMAX Access Service Network (ASN) Gateway to provide a piece of the end-to-end WiMAX network architecture. The gateway connects the WiMAX radio access network to a common IP core, offering a reduced cost and quicker time to market.

Mada Communications (formerly Arabtel), is a Kuwaiti company established in 1982. It has been a licensed wireless provider in Kuwait since 1997, and in 2007 embarked in a strategy to expand in the region. It was awarded a WiMAX licence in Jordan in addition to acquiring WorldPoint Communications, an international carrier with presence in more than 45 countries. Mada plans to become the largest WiMAX operator in the region by end of 2009.

The Mobile World Congress is as much a place to do business and catch up with the mobile industry’s biggest buzzes, as it is an opportunity to peddle ideas, and in some cases even float new ones. Comm. reports on a number of lines of communications from the show, and assesses whether what was said in some cases was actually meant

When it is communicated clearly and simply in figures, often times a picture is much clearer than the best intended explanations. In the last half of 2008, and in particular the last quarter, Motorola added its voice to the chorus of LTE evangelists more audibly than it has ever done in the past. The vendor’s official position on this increased publication relations effort around the technology, is that with LTE standards entering their final stages of ratification, and with delivery estimates realistically being set as late this year and early next, the time is now right for Motorola to communicate that it is a viable infrastructure partner for this next generation of mobile technology.

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Zimbabwe’s telecommunications regulator, the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), has revised telephone tariffs downwards by up to 40 per cent in a move aimed at making communications more affordable.

Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation has led the government to allow use of the US$ as an alternative currency

POTRAZ ordered service providers to reduce telephone tariffs by 25-40 per cent. The latest development comes after a massive hike in Zimbabwean telephone charges since January when retailers, including service providers, were first allowed to charge in foreign currency.

The average tariff before the latest POTRAZ order was US$0.30 per minute, and the new tariffs will see rates fall to around US$0.20 per minute, which still remain comparatively high compared to other network operators on the continent.

Zimbabwe has three mobile operators and a single fixed-line player. Mobile penetration at the end of Q308 stood at less than 10 per cent, with a total of 1.21 million subscribers, according to data from Informa Telecoms and Media.

Oman mobile reseller Friendi Mobile has reported that the days since it began allowing interested parties to start pre-booking numbers earlier this week, for its soon-to-be launched mobile service, the company has been inundated with thousands of requests. Such has been the demand to book numbers that Friendi reported a slowdown of its website in Oman as people queued to register.

“We haven’t announced our final prices or features, so some people are understandably cautious to committing to the unknown, commented Antti Arponen, CEO of Friendi Mobile in Oman. “But there is absolutely nothing to lose – booking your preferred number is free of charge and does not commit you to anything. But when we soon reveal our product details and if you like our great offers, at least you will have the number you want.”

Meanwhile, earlier in the month, rival reseller aspirant Renna (Majan Telecommunication) announced the successful completion of thousands of test calls and text messages with the deployment of Intelligent Network (IN) technologies and billing systems from HP and Convergys. Renna CEO Niklas Nielsen confirmed that the service is set to launch in April.