Wataniya Telecom has adopted the new Ooredoo brand, continuing the momentum of the global brand rollout.

The transformation of the brand was announced at a ceremony at the company’s new Kuwait City headquarters by Abdulaziz Fakhroo, general manager and CEO, Ooredoo in Kuwait.

Ooredoo’s operation in Kuwait is the latest to adopt the new brand, joining those in Qatar, Algeria, the Maldives, Myanmar, and Tunisia. Following the global launch at the Mobile World Congress in February 2013, Ooredoo has successfully rolled-out the new brand across the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The transformation into Ooredoo has seen these companies do far more than just change their name – each has launched a new wave of services and initiatives designed to promote human growth in their respective countries. For Ooredoo in Kuwait, this will include the launch of a range of life-enhancing consumer and business-to-business services, including Kuwait’s first e-commerce site for purchasing electronics.

Etisalat announced the successful completion of the listing of its US$7 billion Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) Programme on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Under the programme, Etisalat can issue one or more series of conventional bonds in any currency and amount up to US$7 billion.

The listed bond programme is being rated by three credit ratings agencies with the following ratings: Moody’s Aa3 (outlook – stable); Standard and Poor’s AA- (outlook – negative/watch); and Fitch A+ (outlook – stable).

Huawei has announced the launch of a new Middle East Hosting Centre and cooperative programme aimed at empowering local telecom operators to pioneer original communication and entertainment services for the public.

The plans were unveiled at the Huawei Middle East InTouch Hosting Cooperation Forum, which was attended by over thirty telecom operators from the MENA region and more than 80 content and service providers from all over the world.

The InTouch Lab Partnership Programme brings together the services and experiences of content providers from around the world to the Middle East. Through the initiative, telecom operators will be able to explore new service collaborations that deliver gaming, video, music and communication offerings to local consumers, while also opening up additional revenue streams for their respective businesses.

To date Huawei’s InTouch Partnership Programme includes over 500 partners worldwide collaborating across seven global hosting centres.

The programme is part of a long-term Huawei investment plan that started with the founding of the company’s first Middle East Hosting Centre to support the technological requirements of the InTouch Programme. Housed in Dubai, the centre is already set up and will be the regional hub for all research and development efforts led through the programme. These include access to open developer interfaces, app development tools, technology support staff and training, and testing environments for new services.

Alongside the Middle East Hosting Centre, Huawei further announced the launch of its own dedicated entertainment portal for the region known as Wakti, Arabic for “my time”. The online portal will house the various services developed through the global InTouch Programme and will ultimately shorten the time-to-market of newly-created entertainment services for consumers in the Middle East.

Nigeria’s telecom regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has extended the sales ban it imposed on three of the country’s mobile networks for missing quality of service requirements.

Without elaborating on the details, the NCC said that it would extend the sales ban on Airtel, MTN, and Globacom for an unspecified timeframe.

The sales ban was originally imposed in February, and had been expected to expire a few weeks ago, but the regulator had not commented on the issue, even as the ban remained in place.

It has now confirmed that the ban will remain in place, but is remaining equally opaque about how long for.

The mobile networks are reportedly still selling SIM cards in some parts of the country though, and the regulator said it is investigating the allegations.

Etisalat has issued an offer to buy out the remaining minority shareholders in Maroc Telecom.

In a filing to the local stock market, the company confirmed that it is submitting the tender based on the stock market rules that require anyone owning more than 40 per cent of the shares to make such a bid.

The shareholders are not required to sell though – so Etisalat could end up with a negligible increase in its 53 per cent stake.

Just 17 per cent of the company is listed on the local stock market, with the government owning the remaining 30 per cent. The government is not expected to sell its stake.

Although Etisalat is required to put in a bid for the 17 per cent, it is likely that the government will seek to prevent a total buy out as it would reduce liquidity on the stock market.