Ooredoo officially launched its mobile services in Myanmar with an event on August 14. The operator has rolled out a new network using next generation UMTS900 technology, which offers customers in Myanmar a world-class 3G service with clear voice calls and fast Internet, as well as providing a solid foundation for a future move into 4G services.

Ooredoo has currently launched in Myanmar’s three major cities and surrounding regions, initially covering 68 cities and towns and 7.8 million people. The network will rapidly extend beyond these three main cities to include 25 million people by the end of the year.

With top-up vouchers available from just US$1, and for sale at 30,000 outlets across the country in addition to the 6,500 dealers selling Ooredoo SIM cards, the company is focused on ensuring accessibility for all. It has also launched a series of introductory Internet bundles and chat packs.

Lenovo said it shifted more smartphones than PCs for the first time ever in the quarter to June 30, with a record volume of 15.8 million units, up 39 per cent.

That’s a significant statistic given that Lenovo is the world’s largest PC vendor.

Citing figures from IDC, the company said that it “surpassed Samsung to become the largest smartphone maker” in China. But this contrasts with figures from Canalys, which gave Xiaomi top-spot ahead of Samsung.

Some 13 million of Lenovo’s smartphones went to its home market. The company said that with regard to mobile devices, it “continued to improve profitability with broadened routes to market and a greater focus on Internet-enabled, open market sales”.

International sales represented “nearly 20 per cent” of the total, compared with around five per cent a year ago.

The company also said that it saw smartphone shipments pass one million devices in the EMEA region for the first time (up 500 per cent). Smartphone shipments in APAC were 1.5 million units, up 3.7 times from the same quarter last year. It also ships devices to Latin America.

Consolidated revenue in Lenovo’s Mobile Device Business, which includes smartphones and tablets, increased 32 per cent year-over-year to US$1.6 billion, representing 15 per cent of total revenue.

With regard to the Motorola Mobility acquisition, Lenovo said that it “remains confident we can turn [Motorola] around in four to six quarters after [the] deal closes”.

On a group level, the company reported a profit attributable to shareholders of US$214 million, up 23 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of US$10.4 billion, up 18 per cent.

MTN Group is negotiating to upgrade its existing build operate transfer (BOT) contract in war-torn Syria into a full, 20-year operating licence, according to the Financial Times.

The company will pay an initial licence fee of between SYP18 billion (US$120 million) and SYP25 billion, which is equivalent to approximately one year’s revenue that it currently pays to the Syrian government under its BOT arrangement.

MTN has bankrolled about US$250 million in dividends in Syria that it has been unable to move out of the country. The company hopes to finalise the licence deal before the end of 2014.

MTN is the smaller of two operators in the country with 5.76 million mobile connections. Rival Syriatel, which is controlled by local tycoon Rami Makhlouf, has 6.68 million connections.

The evolving mobile ecosystem, explosion in mobile data availability and consumption, and the increased complexity in network architecture have given rise to the requirement for network operators to pay even closer attention to the quality of service they offer to their customers. Nokia Networks’ Head of Services for Middle East and Africa, Samir Kumar highlights the strategies and tools available to improve key quality indicators (KQIs) and help network providers differentiate their offerings

Samir Kumar is Nokia Networks’ Head of Services for Middle East and Africa

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Zain will launch its initial public offering (IPO) of its Bahraini unit next month, in what would be the first listing on the Kingdom’s bourse since 2010.

The subscription period for the IPO will run from September 2 to September 16, with shares priced at 0.19 dinars (US$0.50) each, Zain said in a stock market filing in Kuwait, adding the offering was open to retail investors in Bahrain as well as institutional investors in the Gulf region.

Nearly all the cash raised from the offering of 15 per cent of the firm – equivalent to 48 million shares – will be used to fund upgrades of its network infrastructure as well as expand its 4G LTE offering in the Kingdom.

The investment banking units of Gulf International Bank and National Bank of Kuwait will run the offering, with the former also acting as underwriter.

An IPO had originally been mooted in 2008 but the global financial crisis pushed the plans back until Bahrain’s Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) instructed Zain last April to complete the sale by the end of 2013.

While this deadline passed, moves began earlier this year to move forward with the floatation.

In May this year, Zain Group confirmed it had increased its stake in its operation in Bahrain to 63 per cent, having acquired an additional 6.25 per cent shareholding from minority shareholders that include Vodafone Group, for a total consideration of U$12.5 million. This valued Zain Bahrain at US$200 million.

At the time Zain Group explained that Zain Bahrain was undoing a process to list 15 per cent of its shareholding on the Bahrain Bourse and the transaction would permit Zain Group to retain majority control of the Bahrain unit upon completion of the stock market listing.