The recent news of a merger between Orascom and VimpelCom has not dampened the Algerian government’s desire to nationalise Djezzy, Orascom’s Algerian branch...

Organisations in this region should not miss out on this opportunity to implement Ipv6 technology. If they want to continue to grow their business and increase their online presence, they must now begin the migration process towards IPv6, says networking expert, Ali Ahmar, Regional Sales Manager, MENA, Brocade Communications...

Etisalat’s bid for a 46% stake in Zain could be a step closer to becoming a reality – and help has come from an unlikely source. Qatar Telecom (Qtel), a regional rival of Etisalat, has expressed an interest in purchasing Zain Saudi Arabia – a move which could facilitate Etisalat’s planned acquisition...

VimpelCom and Weather Investments – the owner of Orascom Telecom – have confirmed a merger between the two firms. The resulting entity will be the world’s fifth-largest mobile operator group...

Having recently looked to acquire a controlling stake in its Indian joint venture, the UAE operator Etisalat has now attempted to acquire a 46% stake in Kuwait’s Zain...

Due to a rigorous market regulatory policy and the 2009 economic slowdown, the value of the telecommunications market in Central and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania) decreased by 14 per cent...

A fresh licensing dispute has arisen in India – but rather than the newer 3G, it concerns the country’s 2008 issue of 2G licences...

Demand for Apple’s iPhone 4 has been greater than expected in China, where the newest iteration of the smartphone recently launched...

A new agreement between Voice Commerce and Alcatel-Lucent is set to provide new mobile money and payment options for mobile operators, with the two companies aiming to satisfy the burgeoning demand for these services in emerging markets...

As an apparent reaction to the state-owned operator BSNL reporting its first ever annual loss earlier this year, the government of India has reneged on plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in the firm...

A longstanding alliance between Bharti Airtel and IBM has been formalised into a ten year agreement which will focus on the African telecoms market...

General Cable Corporation has formed a joint venture with International Cable Industries LLC (ICI), a limited liability company organized in Oman...

Azur Congo Brazzaville, a subsidiary of group operator Bintel, has agreed a multimillion dollar contract with the billing & charging solutions provider Redknee as it prepares to launch services in the Republic of Congo...

Bharti Airtel has confirmed Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei as the equipment suppliers for its upcoming 3G network, with the Swedish vendor appearing to have landed the role of main supplier...

Thailand’s beleaguered 3G auctions have now stalled indefinitely, following a decision by the country’s Supreme Administrative Court to uphold a complaint made by the state-owned operator CAT Telecom, which alleged that the Thai regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, was not authorised to oversee the auctions...

Access to telecommunications services is increasingly viewed as a basic right, and consumers – particularly in the developed world - often take for granted the availability of these services without considering the ramifications...

China Mobile’s search engine will reportedly launch in 2011. The operator has entered into a joint venture with Xinhua to compete with market leaders Baidu and Google...

ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré today challenged global leaders to ensure that more than half of all the world’s people have access to broadband networks by 2015, and make access to high-speed networks a basic civil right...

India’s mobile market may soon be opened up to MVNOs as the country’s government considers ways of bailing out the eight operators which won bids for mobile licences two years ago...

The Central Region of the Russian Federation has been named as the site of a new Global Network Operations Centre (GNOC) to be built by Nokia Siemens Networks...

Thailand’s long-delayed 3G auctions have met with yet another setback, with the state-owned operator CAT Telecom filing a legal complaint in which it claims that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) does not have the requisite authority to hold the 3G auctions...

 Massive potential in the Chinese triple-play market has attracted the attention of CAMEO Communications and set-top box manufacturer Coship Electronics, who are looking to capitalise on the emerging popularity of triple-play...

Central Europe has witnessed its first LTE network launch – and it has skipped 3G entirely. Two Polish mobile network operators, Mobyland and Centernet, have formed a partnership that has launched a commercial LTE network on the 1800MHz band...

The Indian government’s security concerns over the country’s telecommunications networks have featured prominently in recent telecoms news, but what exactly are the implications of India’s proposed security measures? Is India right to be concerned about the possibility its networks being hijacked by foreign vendors or operators? Where do the roots of these concerns lie? And what can be done to resolve this issue?

Vodafone has announced an agreement to sell its entire 3.2% interest in China Mobile, clarifying that the two companies will continue their commercial and technology cooperation. Vodafone expects the cash consideration to be approximately £4.3bn before tax and transaction costs...

A new push email service is being launched in Costa Rica by the country’s incumbent operator, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). The mass market service, branded Syncronizate, is based on Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway middleware, and will be used to add new push functionality to the existing ICE webmail service Acelera...

The Indian government’s security concerns regarding the telecoms industry have been well publicised in recent weeks, with rumours of a ban on the import of telecoms equipment causing a stir amongst foreign vendors...

A new registration system has been put into effect by operators across China as part of a drive to combat the increasing use of mobiles for the purposes of spam and telecoms services fraud...

Russia’s largest operator VimpelCom and Egyptian operator Orascom have confirmed that they are holding talks to discuss the possibility of a US$25 billion merger...

The Russian city of Kazan has become the newest beneficiary of LTE technology, having played host to the launch of what is believed to be Russia’s first LTE network...

Kuwait will soon witness the launch of new mobile broadband services from Zain, the country’s largest operator. The rollout will be enabled by the billing and charging software provider Redknee...

Strong growth in the Asian telecommunications market has seen a correspondingly strong development of infrastructure. Research and Markets have conducted an in-depth examination of the telecoms infrastructure in each of the region’s economies...

Chinese consumers will soon be able to purchase Android-powered handsets, with both Motorola and Sony Ericsson confirming that they will release new TD-SCDMA-based devices as exclusives for various Chinese operators...

Movistar Chile, a subsidiary of Telefonica, will soon be able to offer its subscribers higher peak data rates courtesy of a new, more efficient mobile broadband network...