Nigerian banks including First Bank, GT Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Zenith Bank have partnered with Etisalat Nigeria to introduce Easywallet, a secure and user-friendly SIM application platform for mobile money payments and transfers. The service gives Etisalat subscribers easy access to their preferred mobile money scheme in conducting secured money transfers and payments.

The Easywallet platform aims at bringing mobile money closer to customers and supports multiple languages – English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The application is also compatible with all makes and models of phones, smartphones and tablet devices.

Etisalat has partnerships with the following financial organisations – Pagatech, e-transact, Ecobank, Paycom, and Eartholeum – on the USSD and SMS platforms, making a wide range of mobile financial services available to Etisalat customers.

Virgin Mobile is reportedly in talks to secure an agreement to launch MVNO services in Turkey.

Citing sources, Reuters said the company wants to enter the fast growing market and was talking to various parties. In addition to the local market, there is a sizeable ex-pat customer base across Europe where Virgin Mobile already has operations.

Virgin Group has confirmed that it is in preliminary talks with several Turkish mobile networks, but did not comment further. The regulator confirmed that the company has not filed an application yet for an MVNO licence in the country.

Apple unveiled the new iPhone 5 in California on September 12, a thinner and lighter version of its iconic device capable of running on many (but not all) of the world’s 4G/LTE networks.

Much of the speculation in the run up to the launch proved correct: the new device has a larger four-inch Retina display – enough room for a fifth row of icons – but is 18 per cent thinner and 20 per cent lighter than its predecessor, the iPhone 4S. It is powered by Apple’s new A6 chip, which the firm claims can provide up to twice the CPU and graphics performance, while at the same time improving battery life.

It also sports an 8MP iSight camera, improved audio and microphones (including a redesign of Apple’s famous white ear buds); and – as widely expected – a new connector known as ‘Lightning,’ replacing the 30-pin cable used for many years on Apple gadgets.
It will run the previously-announced iOS6, which includes 200 new features to the software, notably new mapping and navigation (by Apple rather than Google) and deeper Facebook integration.

The iPhone 5 will retail in the US (after subsidy) for US$199 (16GB), US$299 (32GB) and US$399 (64GB). It will ship in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK on September 21 with pre-orders taken from September 14. The device will rollout to 22 more countries on September 28.

Etisalat today confirmed it has sold a total of 775 million shares in PT XL Axiata (XL), a mobile operator in Indonesia in which it has a stake.

The 775 million shares represent a total of 9.1 per cent of XL’s issued share capital, representing a value of approximately AED 1.87 billion (US$510 million) before commission and expenses. The settlement of the placing is expected to take place on September 18, 2012.

Etisalat owned a 13.3 per cent stake in the Indonesian company, which it bought in 2007 for US$440 million. The sale of the stake is less than the US$600-700 million valuation it was thought to be worth earlier this year when rumours of the sale first emerged.

Following the completion, Etisalat will hold a 4.2 per cent ownership stake in XL.

A smartphone, which is christened "elikia", meaning "hope" in the local Lingala language, has been unveiled in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has been trumpeted as being the first smartphone to be designed by a company in Africa. The device will have a 3.5 inch touchscreen display, a memory of 512 MB and a 650 MHz processor and five megapixel camera.

The handset was designed by a company called VMK, headed by Verona Mansour. He said that he had invested US$120,000 in the development of the handset, which will be produced in China for the Francophone market.

The smartphone is expected to sell for around US$160 when it goes on sale towards the end of next month.