The MoU was signed by H.E. Nasser Bin Obood Al Falasi, Acting Chief Executive Officer for Etisalat and H.E. Osman Sultan, CEO for du. The MoU was witnessed by H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General. The MoU falls under the UAE Government Strategy 2011-2013 that aims to protect the homeland and enhance readiness for emergencies. The strategy recognizes the role that the telecom sector is playing to meet the UAE’s interests and future prospects to establish a solid competitive economy and sustainable infrastructure, and guarantee the continuation of the telecom sector services during emergency cases.

H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General said, “Upon the launch of the NEP-T in June last year, we have set up a timetable for Etisalat and du in order for each entity to take on an adjustment process which will enable them to adapt to the plan’s requirements. The plan includes a draft for the agreement between the two parties that requires them to address the articles as part of the adjustment process. The agreement’s main goal is to guarantee the ability to coordinate a response towards any emergency including their absorption capacity or transference of services among them, in addition to sharing resources to meet the requirements of the NEP-T under the supervision of the TRA.”

“This MoU is certainly a big step for the UAE towards achieving the continuation of the vital telecom sector during emergency cases. The agreement also helps to accelerate the completion of all preparation required in this regard; we are sure that such preparations will be completed in the foreseeable future,” Al Ghanim added.

Upon signing the agreement, H.E. Nasser Bin Obood Al Falasi, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat, stressed that “Etisalat has made a concerted effort over the past years to deploy world-class technologies for the development of the nation. Through its past achievements, Etisalat has become an integral component of the UAE society which impacts as well as gets impacted by the dynamic changes in society. The integration between Etisalat and the UAE society has resulted in commitments that Etisalat – as a leading national organization in ICT sector – strives to achieve. The commitments focus on fulfilling the UAE’s strategy that aims to propel development in the country by ensuring readiness of the telecommunication sector and maintaining efficiency even during emergencies. The ICT sector plays an active role and bears a huge impact on other sectors in the UAE. Therefore, Etisalat has entered into this agreement to employ its technological capabilities, to help serve the telecommunication sector in the UAE during emergencies”.

“Telecommunications services are an integral part of people’s lives, and its service continuity is vital to our community’s safety. With the announcement of the NEP-T, we have undertaken all the necessary measures to ensure the continuation of telecommunications and information technology services across the UAE, as per the mandate of the plan,” said Osman Sultan, CEO, du. “Some of our finest talent manage our dedicated Disaster Recovery and Business Process Continuity unit, the nerve centre responsible for compliance with the NEP-T, regardless of the nature or magnitude of the exigency. To ensure the success of this plan, we intend to work closely with the TRA and other operators in the UAE to achieve the best results for the country, its people, and businesses.”

MEASAT is the leading Asian satellite operator. With capacity across five communication satellites, MEASAT has over fifteen years of experience providing satellite communication services to the region’s international broadcasters, DTH platforms and telecom operators.

Once a copy of the decision is received, Etisalat will work closely with EDB’s management and legal counsel to understand the judgment, its ramifications on the operations of EDB, particularly its customers and employees as well as its right to a review of the Supreme Court’s decision.

The Supreme Court decision relates to events that occurred in January 2008, well before December 2008 when Etisalat invested in Swan. Etisalat has no knowledge of what occurred in the license application process for Swan, far less did it have any involvement. The license applications were entirely conducted by the promoters and their associates who subsequently marketed the Swan investment opportunity to Etisalat through a well known international investment bank.

Etisalat has an excellent record of abiding by all of the laws and regulations in the 17 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa where it operates and continues to move forward with its growth strategy. We remain committed to becoming one of the world’s top 10 telecommunications companies.

The working hours on 4th February will be 9 am to 2 pm in the following branches:

Abu Dhabi: Main Business Center and Al Ain Business Center
Northern Emirates: Manakh, Musheiref, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah & Al Dhaid
Dubai: Deira & Al Wasel Business Centre

Etisalat congratulates its customers, employees and their families, and all Muslims in the UAE on this occasion.

Saeed Al Hamli, who comes from diverse technical and commercial backgrounds, enjoys more than 20 years of experience in the telecom industry. Since he joined Etisalat in 1991, he has held a range of managerial and executive positions and demonstrated remarkable performance.

Al Hamli has worked both inside and outside the UAE, a diverse exposure that has enriched his knowledge of the industry in various competitive business environments. From 2007 to 2011, he worked as the CEO of Etisalat Afghanistan where he achieved excellent business and operational results.

Commenting on Al Hamli’s appointment as CEO of Etisalat Misr, Mohamed Hassan Omran, Chairman of Board of Directors of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation – Etisalat, said: “Saeed Al Hamil has the right international experience to assume his new role and continue the remarkable performance of Etisalat Misr in the Egyptian market.”

Ahmed Julfar, Etisalat Group CEO, said: “Al Hamli is one of the great Etisalat leaders with a proven track record. He is the right person for the very competitive Egyptian market that requires a seasoned professional leader.”

Al Hamli said: “It is an honor to be appointed CEO of Etisalat Misr at this interesting time in the history of Egypt. I will capitalize on the great success story of the company to achieve new breakthroughs and take the company to a new level of performance.”

Al Hamli holds Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, USA and Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the American University of Sharjah

Likewise, the board of directors has made another significant change at the executive level by naming Mr. Hazem Metwally Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Etisalat Misr and assigning him additional duties and responsibilities commensurate with the new position.

Prior to his new role, Mr. Metwally has been holding the position of Chief Commercial Officer for the past five years during which time he has demonstrated remarkable performance and achieved impressive results. He is one of the key founding leaders of Etisalat Misr who joined the company before launch.

A strong leader with a proven track record, Saleh Al Abdooli has been for the past five years the CEO of Etisalat Misr, one of the largest and most successful subsidiaries of Etisalat Group. His leadership years in the Egyptian market have been a great success story in the telecom industry and have earned him a great reputation and several international awards as a leader of one of the best third entrants in mobile operation worldwide. He has achieved remarkable results in the mature Egyptian market that had been dominated for about a decade by a duopoly of two giant operators, Vodafone and Orange (Mobinil).

Al Abdooli has succeeded in breaking the duopoly in the Egyptian market decisively and transforming the industry into a field for innovative competition. He has demonstrated a great ability to meet and exceed challenging business objectives in an extremely tough business environment. Despite the fierce competition, he has led Etisalat Misr from a startup operator to a full-fledged competitor that leads the market in technology, innovation, and growth and sets the standards for competition to adopt and follow. In less five years of operation, Etisalat Misr today covers 99% of the population in Egypt with its 2G/3G networks and leads the market in 3G Broadband subscriber.

Prior to his role in Egypt, Al Abdooli held a wide range of executive positions in Etisalat UAE where he had always been a high achiever. He held the position of General Manager for network development and was responsible for all activities and projects related to network development and future technological strategy of Etisalat in addition to the operation and maintenance of GSM and 3G networks. Likewise, he played a prominent role in paving the way for Etisalat Group’s overseas expansion. He chaired technical committees responsible for developing and designing GSM networks for Etisalat subsidiaries in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Afghanistan.

Commenting on Saleh Al Abdooli’s appointment as CEO of Etisalat UAE, Mohamed Hassan Omran, Chairman of Board of Directors of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation – Etisalat, said: “Saleh Al Abdooli is the best choice for this position and we are fortunate to have a leader of his caliber. We need his tried and true experience and his great ability to make the right decision at the right time for the right reason. I am confident that with his demonstrated leadership abilities and his uncompromising discipline, Saleh Al Abdooli will take Etisalat UAE to a new level of performance.”

Ahmed Julfar, Etisalat Group CEO, said: “Saleh Al Abdooli is assuming his new role as CEO of Etisalat UAE at a time when the company needs to continue its innovative leadership and fortify its competitive position in the UAE market. His great execution skills combined with his strong ability to motivate, lead, and transform will be very much needed at the helm of Etisalat UAE.”

Saleh Al Abdooli said: “I am honored and excited to lead Etisalat UAE. Having successfully accomplished my mission in Egypt, I am glad to move to a greater challenge in the UAE and use my experience and expertise to serve my home country. My primary objectives in my new role will be to achieve a high level of staff engagement, better customer experience, and greater value for shareholders.”

Saleh Al Abdooli is a graduate of University of Colorado at Boulder, USA, where he established a brilliant academic record and got his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and his Master’s degree in Telecommunications with honor: GPA 3.99/4.0

Muhammad Amir Malik

Research has shown that many of the myths related to mobile broadband in World amount to nothing but just wishful thinking at this point. Here are three of the most significant myths that copious research on the market trends has busted.

The first myth is that unlimited data packages are on the way out, and operators are either moving away from marketing mobile broadband services as unlimited, or dropping unlimited data altogether. However the reality is the opposite and operators are actually embracing unlimited data services whole heartedly. The all-you-can-eat data buffet is close; as usage grows, networks will redefine the term “unlimited” and introduce new tariffs for the heaviest users. That doesn’t necessarily mean there is no fair usage policy at all, but that is how the operators are positioning it in the market. Interestingly more than 80% of the cases of services marketed as “unlimited”, operators either apply bandwidth reduction beyond a defined usage cap or impose excess usage charges. Far from being dead, the practice of marketing mobile broadband services as “unlimited” is on the increase in World. More operators, instead of backing away from the concept, are actually moving toward unlimited data plans, and featuring them more frequently in their portfolios. In the third quarter of 2009, there were about 20 operators marketing unlimited propositions in the world. By the first half year of 2010, the number of operators in that sector had increased by about a third. The Swedish market is particularly interesting example. About a year ago, the top three operators decided to move away from “unlimited” marketing and turned to tiered data pricing for mobile broadband. That should have been the end of unlimited data in Sweden. Furthermore, this move as a demonstration of best practice for operators was referred in other markets as well. Nevertheless a unique methodology based Swedish operator dug in its heels and made a selling point of “unlimited”, effectively, forcing its competitors to return, most reluctantly, to unlimited data marketing within a year.

The second myth was that the market had stabilized, and that the price war danger that was first identified in 2008 had been neutralized. Additionally, with the market maturing, people believe the concept of super aggressive pricing has disappeared, and postpaid pricing is at a very stable level. In fact, this is not the case. In the second quarter of 2010 across the world, most radical price dip in postpaid entry-level plans was experienced, which was not expected. This was triggered by promotions happening in the prepaid market, but also cutthroat pricing policies pushed through operators’ secondary brands, targeting the value segment with distinct marketing and branding strategies. The secondary brand effectively allows operators to play aggressively in the market while protecting their core, “quality” flagship brand. If we only consider pricing within the primary channel, pricing does indeed appear to be relatively stable. But if we look across the continent at the aggregate operator channel, there is still a lot of downward pressure. The biggest trend in mobile broadband is a new, “no-contract” proposition, also referred to as a 30-day rolling contract. A 30-day contract is defined as a hybrid postpaid/prepaid model, through which users commit to a monthly spend, but may churn within a two-week notice period. Interestingly, penetration of the 30-day contract has grown significantly throughout World primarily due to the iPad and other tablets. The markets and products with this proposition were up from 2 and 5 in the last quarter of 2009, to 8 and 44 in the second quarter of 2010 respectively. In the third quartet of 2010, just over half of all 30-day contract plans in World were aligned specifically with iPad or tablet offers. This, without doubt, is the fastest growing proposition in mobile broadband today, with grave implications for retention and loyalty in this segment.

The third myth is that die market is so mature, and that marketing has come so far that we are ready for LTE and for differentiated experiences, treating users as individual with different applications and different priority requirements. In short, the belief is that we are ready for QoS. In fact, this is not true.In World, most operators pose a blanket ban on undesirable applications, such as P2P, VoIP, IM and other applications related to peak-time usage, this ban seen as passive and rather toothless. It is written into the service’s terms and conditions, but represents little more than a fair usage warning for users.

Mobile broadband marketing has barely evolved over the last year. World operators are failing to provide small businesses with a differentiated proposition. This is a chronically under-provisioned market. Around 90% of mobile broadband portfolios for small businesses ate little more than consumer portfolio duplicates, with near or identical positioning and marketing messages. Small businesses are, in fact, groups of users, yet just 10% of World operators offer group tariffs, or bucket plans, for small businesses. Traditionally, mobile operators have always hyped the network, with coverage, speed and quality as the key marketing messages, using these assets to establish a unique selling point. Mobile broadband service marketing, to date, has tended towards network centricity. It’s all about the network, and what the network can do for you. We need to move towards customer-centric marketing message focusing on what the user want from our network; positioning which recognizes the distinct application requirements of different user segments. At Current Analysis, it is recommended that operators make the move away from network-centric to customer-centric marketing. From single-Speed marketing shouts to differentiated speeds, from hard ceilings, unlimited usage and fair usage polity in differentiated priorities according to time of day; and from the network as a key differentiator to differentiated application usage profiles and real-time notification. Moreover, usage of unlimited data marketing judiciously and seeking leadership in the small business market is the call of the time.

•          Illustrates MTN’s ongoing efforts to enhance the experience for over 10 million subscribers in Ghana

•          The deal covers network operations, field maintenance and optimization for an additional year

MTN a leading telecommunications company with a presence in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East today, announced the extension of its managed services agreement with Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) (http://www.ericsson.com) for its Ghana operations. With 49% market share, MTN is the premier operator in Ghana which is one of Africa’s fastest growing markets. In 2011, it grew by around 18% in the country to serve over 10 million subscribers.

This announcement marks the extension of the first managed services contract between Ericsson and MTN, originally signed in 2009 in connection to the rollout of MTN’s 3G network in Ghana. Under the extension, Ericsson is responsible for network operations, field maintenance and optimization.

Jon Hoffmann, the Chief Technical officer, MTN Ghana said, “Our first two years together achieved the results we were hoping for: we could focus on subscriber growth, and Ericsson delivered network reliability and efficiencies.”

MTN will retain full ownership of the network and responsibility for its strategic direction, while Ericsson will manage the network operations, optimization and field maintenance for MTN’s 3G sites.

“MTN and Ericsson collaborate in many areas across this and other regions for several years now and in Ghana we are especially pleased to have been part of the journey towards 10 million subscribers,” says Valter D`Avino, Head of Managed Services Ericsson. “With Ericsson continuing to run the operations of the network, MTN will be able to dedicate even more time and focus on delivering innovative products and services relevant to the needs of their customers.”

Globally Ericsson has signed more than 300 managed services contracts in more than 100 countries. Ericsson manages networks on behalf of operators that serve over 850 million subscribers worldwide. By teaming up with Ericsson, operators can strengthen their competitive edge through improved network availability and capacity, while reducing their operating costs. This, in turn, increases market growth for mobile services, which helps improve the quality of services and the end-user experience.

Tadiran Telecom

Kunming Subway is a rapid transit system currently under construction in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. Kunming has a population of over 3 million and is currently one of the largest cities in China without a subway system. The first phase of the project is planned to be completed in the middle of 2012. The Kunming Subway system has selected Tadiran Telecom’s solution to simultaneously serve all of the three lines, numbers 1, 2, and 6 in this complex and multi-level project. The Kunming Subway communications system project will include over 125 IPx 3000, IPx 500M, and Tadiran softswitch servers.

Tadiran’s President and CEO Eldad Barak: “Thanks to our vast experience with the requirements of the Chinese railway industry, we are able to provide high-quality solutions and one of the highest standards of service in the market. Tadiran was awarded the project in Kunming due to past successful deployments in China’s transportation field. Today we specialize in several vertical markets in China including transportation and power; we are confident we will strengthen our presence even further in these and other vertical markets”.

Bill Miao, General Manager of KTT: “We are pleased to receive an additional subway project in China that includes Tadiran Telecom solutions. This project is to be executed in the home town of KTT- Kunming. It’s a special feeling to have the opportunity to serve the people of our home region. In this project, for the first time in China, Tadiran will provide communications solutions for all the lines in the same transit system. An additional characteristic of this project is that it’s the first in China to integrate softswitch servers in constructing the PBX network and as such it provides new possibilities for the even larger Chinese railway market. This project extends a series of Tadiran’s successful deployments in the transportation field in China and enables us to once again deliver high-quality service and enhance our credibility among our customers”.

Mr. Miao added, “The administration of the Kunming Subway has selected Tadiran Telecom for its reliability, stability, mission-critical capabilities and the most cost-effective solution”.

About Tadiran Telecom (TTL) L.P.

Tadiran Telecom (TTL) L.P. is a privately held company, recently acquired by Afcon Industries, which is part of the Shlomo Group – a financially robust conglomerate involved in developing a wide variety of businesses in the industrial and service sectors. Tadiran Telecom (TTL) L.P. is an established global leader, innovator and supplier of IP business telephony and telecommunications solutions, and has served businesses of all sizes, including some of the world’s largest companies and organizations in various market segments across 41 countries worldwide. Tadiran’s solutions feature a comprehensive family of products including IP PBXs, Soft Switches, Contact Centers, IP phones, as well as Mobility and Desktop solutions. Tadiran strives to increase environmental awareness in the telecom market while utilizing green technology in its products.