MasterCard Worldwide, in collaboration with Etisalat and Research In Motion today announced a strategic collaboration to launch Near Field Communication (NFC) technology empowered payments in the UAE. Network International and Oberthur Technologies have supported the development of this service.

This evolution in mobile payments in the UAE will bring consumers ease, security and speed when making daily payments. Consumers holding an enabled smartphone available in the UAE will be able to tap their smartphone at any MasterCard PayPass and purchase items. Currently there are 341,000 MasterCard PayPass-enabled merchant locations globally.

Transforming smartphones into virtual payment cards, the mobile payments application leverages the MasterCard PayPass platform, which uses NFC technology, to allow the enabled smartphone to securely transmit and receive information wirelessly. The enhanced smartphones, which will be available in the local market from Etisalat, will give consumers the ability to use their phone as a mobile wallet and link their PayPass enabled credit, debit or prepaid MasterCard card accounts to their mobile phone to fund mobile-initiated payments.

BlackBerry users across the EMEA region have been cut off from service by a major fault at Research In Motion (RIM). The glitch was affecting online services for consumers across the region, which is reportedly served by a RIM data centre in Slough.

Users have been unable to browse the Internet or open instant messages, or access other Internet services such as email.

A RIM spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Users who are served by a corporate server appeared to be unaffected.

On one of its official Twitter feeds, however, T-Mobile UK said: “There is an issue with BlackBerry services at present. RIM is investigating this at present."

Etisalat has unveiled ePlus, a next-generation technology portal, offering a comprehensive range of applications that will allow subscribers to make high quality video and voice calls, leveraging VoIP technology in addition to utilising social networking applications and e-commerce.

Etisalat’s ePlus supports the most popular social and instant messaging platforms and synchronises mobile contacts with online friends to consolidate all contacts into one single screen, called Radar View.

Linked to the Etisalat Content Portal and apps store, ePlus provides users with the latest music, games and apps available for download. Within the same interface, customers can manage bill payments and check data usage.

The ePlus application provides consumers with full mobility through its PC and mobile synchronisation, allowing customers to make and receive calls across a range of mobile and fixed line devices with a simultaneous connection to all or any single device. The service leverages a Near Field Communication (NFC) platform and is m-commerce enabled. It currently works across the 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi networks and supports the Android 2.2 platform. It will also encompass other operating systems in future.

Sony is reported to be close to buying Ericsson out of their long-running mobile phone joint-venture, Sony Ericsson.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal said that Sony aims to integrate the smartphone operation with its businesses in tablets, hand-held game machines, and personal computers to save on costs and better synchronise development of mobile devices.

One of the people said talks are still ongoing. Negotiations between the two companies to unwind the venture have broken down in the past as the two sides struggled to reach an agreement over price, the people familiar with the matter added.

Analysts estimate that Ericsson’s stake could be valued between US$1.3 billion to US$1.7 billion.

The key advantage as seen from Sony’s perspective is that it can tie the smartphone portfolio with its other consumer devices and critically tap into its content division in much the same way that Apple was able to synchronise content with hardware.

Sony Ericsson was established in 2001.

South Africa’s MTN Group has increased its stake in MTN Rwanda by a further 25 per cent to take its holding to 80 per cent.

Crystal Ventures and the government of Rwanda collectively sold the 25 per cent stake in MTN Rwanda for an undisclosed amount.

Crystal Ventures will retain a 20 per cent interest in MTN Rwanda and will remain an active minority shareholder in the company.

In July MTN had said it would support plans by the Rwandan government to float its 10 per cent stake in cellco onto the local stock market, which at the time had ended speculation that MTN would try to buy the interest instead.

Rwanda has three mobile operators, with MTN Rwanda leading the way with a subscriber base of around 2.7 million, representing a market share of 53 per cent.