Mohamed Shameel Joosub became CEO of Vodacom Group effective September 1, inheriting a cellular operation that remains a market leader in South Africa, but a second-tier pan-regional African player, with presence in four other sub-Saharan markets. Digital content, enterprise services, and the leveraging of its relationship with parent group Vodafone appear to be Joosub’s early strategic positions for the cellco

Shameel Joosub is an experienced Vodacom executive so it will be interesting to see whether he is able to inject some fresh dynamics into the cellco

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In September, Zain Group announced it had entered into a Partner Market agreement with Vodafone; nearly six years after MTC (Zain’s former name) ended its co-branding arrangement with the UK operator in Kuwait and Bahrain. Much has changed in the cellco space in the Gulf since 2006, and the latest deal between Zain and Vodafone begs the question: Have the changes been fundamental or cosmetic?

The MTC Vodafone co-branding deal extended to Kuwait and Bahrain, and at the time increased the visibility of the Gulf operator significantly

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Qualcomm’s IQ 2012 event for the EMEA region was held in Berlin in September, where the technology provider emphasised the central role it is playing in the creation and delivery of ever greater quantities of mobile digital content. Qualcomm chipsets have never been in higher demand as the smartphone frenzy shows no signs of dissipating across emerging as well as developed markets. Comm. reports from Berlin

Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm’s CEO, was not present at the EMEA’s IQ event 2012, instead taking part at the equivalent shows in Brazil and India

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In September, Tech Mahindra, India’s sixth largest software exporter announced the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Comviva Technologies, a Bharti Group company, and a global player in providing mobile value added services (VAS), mobile money and mobile payment solutions. The acquisition represents a further move by the Tech Mahindra into the telecom space, as India continues to ramp up its software and telecom applications interests across the Middle East and Africa

Comviva’s Mohapatra says ring back tones have enjoyed enormous success with operators across geographies and the company is confident of replicating this success in Africa

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Parker Moss, Alcatel-Lucent’s VP of Strategy and Marketing Wireless was in the region recently discussing the importance of metro cells, and advising on ways service providers may start thinking beyond the box. Moss offered Comm. a more detailed view of the growing importance of small cells in the evolution of mobile networks

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