Middle East operators including UAE telco Du are considering an alliance to create an Arabic online social platform to secure revenue they are deemed to be losing out on from over-the-top (OTT) players, reports Reuters.

With more than 350 million Arabic speakers globally and a large number of operators affiliated to Middle East operator groups, supporters of such a project say it has potential to succeed.

Social networks and other OTT companies are benefiting from using mobile networks to build their business without generating revenue for the operators.

In agreement with its local partners, France Telecom-Orange has appointed the following chief executive officers in seven of its African and Middle Eastern subsidiaries:

· Brelotte Ba is appointed CEO of Orange Niger, succeeding Jean-Louis Branco;

· Michel Barré is appointed CEO of Orange Madagascar, succeeding Jean-Luc Bohé;

· Jean-Luc Bohé is appointed CEO of Orange Mali, succeeding Alioune Ndiaye;

· Didier Charvet is appointed CEO of Orange Tunisia, succeeding Thierry Marigny;

· Nathalie Clere is appointed deputy CEO of Mauritius Telecom, succeeding Jean-François Thomas;

· Alioune Ndiaye is appointed CEO of Sonatel in Senegal, succeeding Cheikh Tidiane Mbaye; and

· Jean-François Thomas is appointed CEO of Jordan Telecom, succeeding Nayla Khawam.

These appointments fall within the group’s international mobility policy and, in each case, were made at the end of the terms of the departing CEOs.

All of the appointments will be effective by October 1, 2012.

Brelotte Ba graduated from the École Polytechnique of Paris and from the École des Ponts et Chaussées. He joined Orange in 2001, successively holding a number of executive management positions, in particular Director of Financial Controlling of Sonatel and Marketing Director of Orange Guinée in 2007. He was named CEO of Orange Bissau in 2008.

Michel Barré graduated from the Institut National des Telecommunications and from Télécom Paris; he also holds an Executive MBA from HEC. He has more than 35 years of experience in the France Telecom-Orange Group. In particular, he was Director of Operations and Development of Mobistar, CEO of Telemate, then Human Resources Director of Transpac. From October 2007, he was Director of the Eastern Africa, Pacific and Indian Ocean Zone for the AMEA Division.

Jean-Luc Bohé graduated from the Institut National des Télécoms. He has nearly 20 years of experience with Orange. After a career on the technical side as Director of an Operational Unit and then in the marketing and sales field, Bohé was appointed CEO of Orange Madagascar in 2007, a position he has held until now.

Didier Charvet is a graduate of the École Polytechnique of Paris and of the École Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications with 24 years of experience at France Telecom-Orange. He has held executive management positions in several countries (including Egypt, Mexico, the Netherlands and Switzerland) and has had responsibilities in fixed and mobile operations, networks, customer relations, the wholesale business, supplier relations, international partnerships and local authority relations.

Nathalie Clere graduated from the University of Grenoble and holds a MBA from Euromed Management. After working for Telediffusion de France (TDF) in Paris and then for Thomson in Singapore, where she headed up Consumer Products Division, she joined France Telecom-Orange in 1994. She held a succession of management positions, most notably in France, Lebanon and Portugal, before being named Director of France Telecom-Orange’s operations in Poland, where she coordinated relations between the France Telecom group and TP.

Alioune Ndiaye graduated from the Institut National des Télécommunications in Evry and holds a DESS degree in Telecommunications Management from the Paris-Dauphine University. He has 26 years of experience in the telecommunications sector. In particular, he worked in the financial field, first as Director of Financial Controlling and then as Chief Financial Officer of Sonatel. He then led the Orange Mali subsidiary from its creation in 2002, making it the leading operator in its market.

Jean-François Thomas is a graduate of the École Polytechnique of Paris and of the École Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications and has 25 years of experience at France Telecom-Orange. He was CEO of France Telecom Japan for five years, and then he worked as Asia Director of France Telecom Long Distance in Hong Kong before becoming the Regional Director for Alsace. He was named Deputy CEO of Mauritius Telecom in 2008, a position he has held up until now.

Tech Mahindra Limited, India’s sixth largest software exporter announced the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis in Comviva Technologies Limited, a Bharti Group company, and a global player in providing mobile value added services (VAS), mobile money and mobile payment solutions, for a value of INR260 crore(US$49.2 million). The deal will be subject to regulatory approvals.

The new brand identity will be Mahindra Comviva, and as part of this arrangement, Tech Mahindra will make an upfront payment of INR125 crore towards the stake acquired and the balance amount of INR135 crore will be paid out over a period of five years based on Comviva achieving mutually agreed performance targets. The current promoters, Bharti Group, will continue to hold a 20 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis in Comviva, post the deal closure.

This acquisition will significantly enhance Tech Mahindra’s capabilities in the mobile VAS domain and will provide access to a marquee client base, enabling significant cross-selling opportunities. It dovetails into two of Tech Mahindra’s stated strategies, namely investing in emerging areas such as Network, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud and Security; and further focus on non-linear growth.

Jordan Telecom, a unit of France Telecom, appointed Jean-Francois Thomas as chief executive officer, replacing Nayla Khawam whose term ends on October 1.

Khawam, who became Jordan Telecom’s CEO effective July 1, 2009, will move to Paris and take charge of developing new business streams for telecom providers at France Telecom. France Telecom owns 51 per cent of Jordan Telecom.

Thomas was formerly deputy CEO and COO of Mauritius Telecom, another France Telecom subsidiary.

Huawei reports it has won a five-year managed services contract from Russia’s VimpelCom, and as a result, around 1,300 VimpelCom employees will transfer to Huawei.

As part of the agreement, Huawei will take complete responsibility for the multi-vendor, multi-technology fixed and mobile networks, which cover the Volga and the Far East.

The scope of work includes end-to-end network management, including multi-vendor operations and maintenance, field operations, 24/7 network assurance and spare parts management.