Vodafone Qatar has announced the launch of its 4G network, which it says will incorporate the newest content proposition and in-store experience.

From June 3, all Vodafone customers with a 4G enabled device will automatically receive 4G service, at no subscription fees, to enjoy using their existing data bundles. 

Vodafone has partnered with ‘Go by OSN’ and Anghami to give customers access to a selection of movies, series and music.

‘Go,’ OSN’s premium online TV service, offers Qatar residents access to thousands of hours of entertainment. The service is currently available on PCs and Macs, smartphones and tablets and subscribers can take advantage of dual-device screening, where two different shows can be streamed on separate devices simultaneously.

With up to a six-month trial followed by QR37 (US$10) a month, customers choosing ‘Go by OSN’ can access over 500 movies, 150 series and over 100 kids and family shows. Subscribers can also enjoy up to 8GB of video streaming from ‘Go by OSN’ every month at no additional charge.

Google is reported to be planning on deploying a low earth satellite network in order to extend Internet connectivity to the entire planet.

The billion-dollar venture would see the company launch its own satellites and use them to provide Internet access in rural areas that are currently not served by terrestrial services.

Being a low-earth orbit network, the satellites should be close enough to the ground to reduce the latency on the connection, which has often been the main problem with such services in the past.

Google has previously backed the independent organisation O3b Networks, which aims to offer the same service, but has now hired staff from that company to work on its own network.

The network would initially cost around US$1 billion, but that could rise to US$3 billion if the entire network of 180 mini-satellites was to be launched.

Mobily, the second-largest mobile operator in Saudi Arabia, has ended talks to buy a stake in fixed-line operator Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications (EATC), putting in check any quad-play ambitions it might have had.

In a statement to the kingdom’s bourse, Mobily – an affiliate of the UAE’s Etisalat – said it had been conducting talks with four founding EATC shareholders via Bayanat, a wholly-owned Mobily subsidiary (which already has a fixed-line data licence).

By adding EATC it was expected Mobily would be able to offer fixed and mobile packages, including landline calls.

Mobily’s statement does not say why the discussions were called off.

Reuters reports that Mobily last month said it wanted to acquire a 20 per cent stake in EATC through a rights share issue.

It seems, however, that discussions had been dragging on. It was back in August last year that a memorandum of understanding was signed by Bayanat and EATC’s founding shareholders to buy a controlling interest in the company.

EATC has around 200,000 customers. Reuters reports that it made a loss of SAR249 million (US$66.4 million) for the 12 months ending March 31, 2014.

A bond prospectus issued by Etisalat has revealed an unusual debt problem with its subsidiary in Tanzania.

The bond prospectus was sent to investors as Etisalat is looking to raise funds to finance its US$5.6 billion acquisition of a 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom. As is usual with these documents, it lists any known risk factors that could affect the company.

Here it was revealed that an unidentified bank has issued a demand against Zanzibar Telecom for the repayment of a US$96 million bank loan after the local mobile network defaulted on payments.

Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel) has been struggling for some time against Vodacom and Airtel, and saw its customer base shrink last year, despite operating in a growing market with untapped potential customers.

"Zantel is currently in non-payment default under a bilateral bank facility," the bond prospectus stated, without elaborating on the details. It did warn though that "unless this default is remedied, the lender may take enforcement action against Zantel".

It is thought that Zanzibar Telecom is losing money. Although Etisalat does not break out the numbers in its financial statements, the clue is that the mobile network was left off the list of profitable operations.

Etisalat owns a 65 per cent stake in Zanzibar Telecom, with the rest evenly split between the government and another investor, Meeco International.

It ended last year with just 1.8 million customers, down sharply on the 3.1 million a year earlier. A SIM card registration push was blamed for most of the decline, although the shrinkage was lower at the rival networks.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE reported that as of May 18, 2014, 55,555 mobile numbers were successfully transferred out of the 190,185 mobile number porting requests received by telecom operators since the official launch of the mobile number portability (MNP) service in December 2013. The implementation process of the service has thus reached 30 per cent.

134,222 applications have been rejected, including applications that have been re-submitted more than once by the same owner of the mobile number. The reasons for rejection were identified under the service instructions that are available with service providers and focus on the mismatch of subscribers’ names with the applicants’ names, or non-completion of transfer request numbers.