March 12th, 2012 — Issue 31 January/February 2012
Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) have experienced a slow start in the Middle East and Africa. However, Effortel, a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) that began life as an MVNO believes conditions may be right to see a rapid ramp-up of the offering in the region in the coming years 
Andriulis warns that prospective MVNOs need to understand the market niche they intend to target, and that some of the most boring and practical matters are the ones that matter most
March 8th, 2012 — Issue 31 January/February 2012
In November 2011, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) announced its strategy to focus on mobile broadband, customer experience management, and services, together with the launch of a massive restructuring programme that would include a headcount reduction of 17,000. Comm. spoke to NSN’s head of Middle East, Igor Leprince, regarding how these changes would play out in the region 
Igor Leprince became head of Middle East for NSN effective October 1, 2011
March 4th, 2012 — Issue 31 January/February 2012
Near field communications (NFC) is starting to make mainstream headlines with many pilots and commercial roll-outs taking place. However, just as with the arrival of 3G, ATMs and chip and PIN bank cards there’s a whole lot of consumer education that needs to take place before people will understand and, more importantly, trust the technology.
Christelle Toureille – Marketing director, Telecommunication Solutions in Middle East, Gemalto
February 21st, 2012 — Issue 31 January/February 2012
Qualcomm’s SVP for government affairs Bill Bold recently hosted a webinar in which he described the benefits of spectrum planning globally. With on-going issues surrounding the choice and availability of LTE spectrum in different parts of the world, organising spectrum resources has assumed an even more significant role, and national regulators would do well to ensure their domestic policies fall in line with international norms
February 5th, 2012 — Issue 30 November/December 2011
The broadband revolution, both fixed and mobile, has resulted in telcos having to revise their business models quickly in an attempt to capture as much of the incremental revenues generated as possible. The telecom industry continues to grapple with the most effective way of seizing the broadband opportunity, though an understanding of the dynamics at play is becoming more apparent
Reliable access to information is growing to become more of an expectation than a desire in the Middle East
Batelco has successfully activated 5G coverage across Bahrain, which is available in all four governorates, covering 95% of the nation’s population. The telco’s launch of the network makes Batelco the first operator to provide national 5G coverage in Bahrain.
Omantel has renewed and expanded its managed services agreement with Ericsson for a further five years, with the renewed agreement being more outcome-based and customer-centric.
South Africa-headquartered MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter will step down from his role at the end of his fixed four-year contract in March 2021, having given no explanation why he would not seek to stay on beyond that date.
Nokia CEO and president, Rajeev Suri, is set to step down from his position later this year, to be replaced by Pekka Lundmark, currently CEO and president of energy company Fortum. The move comes as Nokia struggles to keep pace with the global shift to 5G.
Following Zain Group’s regional milestone announcement in November 2019 that its operations in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had successfully launched the first 5G roaming service across the MENA region, Bahrain telco Batelco has announced partnering with the UAE’s du to deliver 5G international roaming services in the UAE.
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