American Tower has completed, through its local South African subsidiary, the acquisition of approximately 960 existing towers from South African mobile network operator, Cell C for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$140 million, using cash on hand, local financing, and funds contributed by South African investors who currently hold an approximate 25 per cent stake in the subsidiary.

American Tower expects to acquire from Cell C approximately 440 additional existing towers during 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$60 million, subject to customary closing conditions.

American Tower may acquire up to an additional 1,800 towers that are either currently under construction or will be constructed over the next three years for an additional aggregate purchase price of up to approximately US$230 million. Cell C will be the anchor tenant on each of the towers being purchased.

Iraq’s telecom regulator, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) has ordered all of the country’s operators to stop interconnections with Zain Iraq’s "unlicensed lines".

Earlier this year the CMC accused Zain Iraq of using five million SIM cards without regulatory approval. The regulator handed Zain Iraq a US$262 million fine, to be paid by April 11.

In a letter sent to all of Iraq’s three mobile telecom operators on February 17, the CMC stated that no company had the right to activate or market any new line without the commission’s prior consent. It also requested that all telecom companies cease interconnections with unlicensed lines or face legal action.

Zain’s problems escalated this week with an announcement from its main rival Asiacell, saying that it had already disconnected its "frame relay" with "several million" Zain Iraq lines that are alleged to be unlicensed.

"The CMC stressed that neither Zain nor any other company may activate or market any new line without the commission’s prior consent," Asiacell said in a statement.

"The CMC also requested that all telecom companies immediately discontinue their interconnection with unlicensed lines under threat of litigation. Based on these directives, Asiacell has disconnected these lines to avoid legal ramifications."

Asiacell added that it also "retained the right" to demand compensation from Zain Iraq. It said that Zain Iraq had damaged Asiacell’s market position by distributing "millions" of unlicensed SIMs.

Zain Iraq responded to Asiacell’s announcement by saying that it "regretted" its rival’s decision to stop interconnections with the disputed SIM cards.

Zain added that its legal team was preparing "formal challenges" to the CMC ruling and the US$262 million fine.

Comviva today announced that it has signed a MoU with Inmobia, a provider of technology platforms and content for mobile operators. The deal will see Inmobia help Comviva provide its Ring Back Tone (RBT) Content Portfolio in Africa. Comviva’s RBT platform enables operators to provide their subscribers with a wide range of personalised mobile music applications.

“Among the varied portfolio of mobile music offerings, ring back tones have achieved killer application status with mobile subscribers in many markets worldwide,” commented Manoranjan Mohapatra, CEO of Comviva. “RBT constantly evolves, creating long-term customer stickiness and providing a sustainable revenue stream for operators. Comviva’s RBT has enjoyed enormous success with operators across geographies and we are confident of replicating this success in Africa.”

Comviva’s RBT solution has witnessed huge success with over 13 million subscribers on a single operator network, and is deployed by over 20 operators worldwide.

Zain Jordan has officially launched 3G HSPA+ technology. The operator says the mobile broadband service will be offered at competitive prices tailored for various customer needs with speeds of up to 21 Mbps.

The new services will target all customer bases, whether individuals, companies or institutions and will be introduced with a variety of offers and products at competitive prices to suit the different needs of its consumers.

“Zain had set aside JD 120 million (US$169 million) to invest prior to launching HSPA+. Today, the Zain network is able to offer high speed Internet services which can reach up to 21 Mbps during phase one, and up to 42 Mbps in the near future,” said Zain’s Network Department director Youssef Abu Mutawe.

“The new network will cover around 97 per cent of Jordan’s populated area” Mutawe added. The number of HSPA+ base stations has reached 1,000, covering the whole kingdom as well as the main highways.

This launch of HSPA+ technology in Jordan complements Zain Group’s previous launch of similar 3G services across several of its other regional country operations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Zain becomes the second operator in Jordan to launch 3G after Orange, which had its one-year exclusivity on the technology end in the middle of February.

Research In Motion’s chief marketing officer, Keith Pardy, has announced his decision to leave the BlackBerry device manufacturer sighting “personal reasons” for doing so. Pardy joined RIM in 2009 and will now stay on at the company for a further six months in order to transition himself out while a replacement is found.