Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa (VMMEA) has further expanded its footprint by launching a new operation in Malaysia under its “Friendi Mobile” brand.

Malaysia is VMMEA’s fifth investment in the region, and together with the existing operations in Oman, Jordan, South Africa and Saudi Arabia, the Malaysia launch is cementing VMMEA’s position as the pan-regional pioneer of the MVNO sector. With a growing customer base that has exceeded one million, and an ambition to double the number of operations over the coming years, VMMEA is on path to becoming a leading regional telecom group.

Mikkel Vinter, CEO & founder of VMMEA said: “We are very excited about the launch in Malaysia, as it is a big market with 30 million inhabitants and a vibrant economy. Malaysia has strong cultural, trade and tourism links with the Middle East markets where VMMEA has the bulk of our operations today, and with the footprint of VMMEA now covering Africa, Middle East and South East Asia, we are serving some of the fastest growing and most attractive mobile telecoms markets globally.”

The operation in Malaysia is launched under the Friendi Mobile brand, with a focus on multi-cultural customers in the country who are looking for a better mobile service.

Friendi Mobile Malaysia has the support from a wide distribution network with 1,500 dealers across the peninsula as well as Eastern Malaysia, and the dealer network will be further expanded over time.

Friendi Mobile Malaysia is owned by VMMEA and its Malaysian partner, the Selangor state investment fund, Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Sdn Bhd (KPS), so the new operation benefits from the global experience of the Virgin Group as well as that of a strong local partner.

The African Union (AU) has criticised the high cost of mobile roaming between African countries.

The AU Commission’s ICT Policy Officer, Auguste Yankey said that the high costs were affecting economic growth on the continent, and they are working with national regulators to cut those costs.

He said Africa has emerged as the new hub for the development of mobile technologies. "Countries such as Kenya have developed innovations that have made positive socio-economic improvements to the lives of ordinary citizens," he said.

Kenya’s Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said that the need for cross border trade makes the reduction of Africa’s roaming cost imperative.

"In our view the best way to find the reasonable cost for the roaming is to conduct a continent wide study," he said.

Matiang’i noted that Kenya’s largest trading partners are its east African neighbours.

"So there is an urgent need to ensure that roaming within the trading bloc is not prohibitive to consumers," he said.

The cabinet secretary urged African countries to explore the use of market incentives that will lead to a significant reduction in the price of international mobile roaming.

"However, we don’t want to create an erratic policy environment that will disadvantage investors in the telecom sector,” he said.

Huawei has announced several recent appointments to its Middle East executive team as part of a wider global focus on rotation of senior leadership within the organisation. The transition includes the assignment of a new VP for Huawei Middle East as well as two country general managers—one for UAE and another for Kuwait.

The selections are in alignment with the Huawei’s wider Rotation CEO System established globally beginning in 2012. The moves include the designation of Pan En as VP of Solution Sales & Marketing for Huawei Middle East. Focusing on the group’s carrier business, Pan will be responsible for driving new technology portfolios in the Middle East and overseeing key customer relationships.

On the country level, Peng Xiongji has become the new GM of Huawei UAE. With an early background in engineering, he went on to support Huawei operations in Africa as well as Pakistan before heading to the UAE.

Huawei Kuwait has appointed Terry He as the GM of its country operations.

Last year Huawei’s revenue from the Middle East totalled nearly US$2.1 billion, an 18 per cent increase from the previous year, with the company now employing over 3,800 staff in the region — more than 64 per cent of them local hires.

Iraq cellco Asiacell Telecom has appointed Amer Al Sunna as its new CEO. The operator has more than 10.5 million, and has been led by chairman and founder Faruk Rasool and former CEO Diar Ahmed.

Al Sunna joined the Ooredoo family (Asiacell parent company) as CEO of Wi-tribe Jordan in August 2010, and in August 2011 was appointed as chief operating advisor of Wi-tribe Philippines. In February 2013 he was appointed the managing director of Asiacell Iraq.

Al Sunna brings with him 20 years of telecom experience, while outgoing CEO Ahmed, who served in his position for almost six years, will remain with Asiacell as chief advisor to the chairman.

Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has opened a new office in Erbil, the capital city of Kurdistan region in Iraq. Until now the company has been operating at a different location in Erbil.

This is NSN’s fourth modern office in Iraq, with the other offices located in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, and Basra to support nationwide operations of its operator customers.

The office was inaugurated by Igor Leprince, head of Middle East and Africa, in the presence of Sirwan Saber Mustafa, chairman of the board, Korek Telecom; and Ghada Gebara, CEO of Korek Telecom.