AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, telecommunications briefs

Source: AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesSept.迷你倉 05--MOBILY TO PROVIDE SAUDI EAST PROVINCE BEACHES WITH FREE WI-FI ACCESS: The mayor of Saudi Arabia's East Province, Fahd Aljubair has announced free Wi-Fi access will be available by the middle of this month along the beaches of the two cities of Dammam and Alkhobar, Arab News has reported. Mobily will provide the service for this private and public initiative, Aljubair said. As part of the plan, the civic body has set up 50 high-speed internet access points along the two beaches, with plans set to expand the service to other areas, he said. "EP municipality is keen to expand such services to cover many more areas by the first quarter of next year," said Aljubair.MICROSOFT ACQUIRES NOKIA OYJ FOR $7.2BN: Microsoft Corp has agreed to buy Nokia Oyj's handset business and licence its patents for €5.44bn ($7.2bn), Bloomberg has reported. The deal means Nokia is exiting from the mobile-phone business it once dominated, while Microsoft will be moving into hardware. "Both Nokia and Microsoft really missed the boat in terms of smartphones, and it is extremely difficult to claw your way back from that," said Paul Budde, a Sydney-based telecoms consultant. "The question is whether combining two weak companies will get you a strong new competitor. It's doubtful."ACER UNVEILS LIQUID S2 SMARTPHONE: Acer has unveiled a new smart phone with a camera capable of recording in a 4K resolution, Cnet has reported. Launched ahead of the IFA in Berlin, the 6-inch, 1080p Liquid S2 is powered by 2.2GHz Qualcomm processor and features a 13-megapixel camera, which Acer boasts will equip the phone with the power to shoot video in a massively high resolution.APPLE ROLLS OUT IPHONE TRADE-IN PROGRAMME: Apple launched a programme allowing US iPhone owners to trade in their smartphones for credit toward buying new models, AFP has reported. The programme follows unconfirmed reports of a September 10 event, at which Apple will unveil new iPhones, with rumours ranging from a gold handset to a low-price version aimed at emerging markets. "iPhones hold great value," said Apple spokeswoman, Amy Bessette. "So Apple Retail Stores are launching a new programme to assist customers who wish to bring in their previous-generation iPhone for reuse or recycling."NOKIA TO UPGRADE WP 8 LUMIA HANDSETS BY MONTH-END: Nokia has announced its "Amber" update for its Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices will reach all phones by the end of September, Tech Crunch has reported. The upgrade is a mix of feature improvements that will improve Nokia's handsets, further setting them apart from devices built by other smartphone OEMs, the Finnish phonemaker said.MOBINIL SEEKING EGP2.5BN LOAN: Egyptian mobile operator MobiNil has announced it is negotiating with four banks to secure an EGP2.5bn ($357m) syndicated loan for expansion purposes, Ahram has reported. The firm was badly hit by the political turmoil unleashed after a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The company reported a net loss of EGP296m in the first six months of 2013, down from a loss of EGP47m a year earlier.AXIOM TELECOM SAYS HAS DOCUMENTS PROVING STATUS AS OFFICIAL SAMSUNG AGENT IN KSA: Axiom Telecom has said it is cooperating with the Saudi commerce ministry to clarify any misunderstanding related being an official Samsung distributor in the kingdom, Saudi Gazette has reported. "We can confirm that Axiom Telecom is a longstanding, official distributor of Samsung products and that we have a very strong relationship with the company," said CEO of Axiom Telecom, Faisal Al Bannai. "We have the necessary paperwork to prove this, and we are sharing the details with the Ministry of Commerce," said Al Bannai. The firm has over 100 retail service collection points in the kingdom and currently operates 12 service centres, with plans to set up an additional eight centres in the coming months.SAMSUNG TO REVEAL 'SMARTWATCH' ON SEPTEMBER 4: Samsung Electronics has confirmed its first "smartwatch" will be unveiled in Berlin, Germany, on September 4, two days ahead of the official opening of this year's IFA consumer electronics fair, The Korea Times has reported. The Galaxy Gear smartwatch will use a "non-flexible display" and is mainly targeted at young trend setters, Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, told the daily.QATAR'S TELECOMS MARKET HAS 'HUGE POTENTIAL' DESPITE HIGH PENETRATION RATE: According to a report by Global Investment House (GIH), Qatar's telecoms market offers huge potential for a future growth, despite the high penetration rate of around 170 percent, the Peninsula has reported. The rate of mobile subscribers in the Gulf country grew 4.5 percent to 3.56m in the second quarter of 2013, the report said. "Ooredoo extended the growth momentum to Q2 2013 by adding 89,700 subscribers, after it launched 4G services on April 16, 2013. Vodfaone subscription base also kept its growth momentum due to increase in both post-paid and pre-paid segment on the back of 11 percent growth in population," GIH said in the report.BLACKBERRY MULLING BBM SPIN-OFF : BlackBerry is considering a plan to spin off its BBM messaging service to form a new company, the Wall Street Journal has reported. BBM, which currently has around 60 million users, is seen as BlackBerry's most valuable asset aside from its corporate email, BlackBerry Enterprise Server.APPLE TO USE 64-BIT A7 CHIPS FOR IPHONE 5S: REPORT: Apple is set debut a new A7 processor with its i儲存倉hone 5S that is expected to be announced on September 10, Fox News has reported. Expected to operate on 64-bit code, the dual-core A7 processor is running about 31 percent faster than the existing iPhone 5′s A6 processor. The 64-bit structure could be a big differentiator for Apple, as that could open up new doors for the technology. Chipmaker ARM and its licensees are currently working on 64-bit chips to work on a broader set of applications and to move the technology into web-connected data centres.OMAN SEES 10.7 percent INCREASE IN FIXED-PHONE SERVICE USER BASE: According to figures released by Oman's National Centre for Statistic and Information (NCSI), the number of subscribers of the fixed phone service in the sultanate rose 10.7 percent to 337,144 at the end of June 2013 from 304,545 at the end of December 2012, Times of Oman has reported. Subscribers of billed and pre-paid GSM service also grew 2.7 percent to 5,422,101 at the end of June 2013 compared to 5,277,591 by the end of 2012. However, the number of subscribers of phone internet service at the end of June 2013 dropped 20 percent to 4,860, compared with 6,074 a year ago, the data showed.BATELCO ROLLS OUT 4G LTE SERVICE FOR PREPAID CLIENTS: Bahrain's Batelco has announced the launch of 4G LTE mobile internet for prepaid customers. 4G LTE provides download speeds up to 100Mbps that ensures instant access, streaming without buffering and an enhanced online gaming experience, in addition to fast download and upload speeds.NOKIA DOWNGRADED BY MOODY'S ON CASH-FLOW CONCERN: Moody's Investors Service has cut Nokia's debt further into junk, the latest downgrade for the company after it bought out its partner in the Nokia Siemens Networks venture for €1.7bn ($2.3bn), Bloomberg has reported. The corporate family rating was lowered one level to B1, or four levels below investment grade, with a negative outlook, Moody's said. Nokia is coping with cash-flow challenges stemming from weaker demand for its phones, it said.SAUDI DATA SEGMENT STILL OFFERS GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES: REPORT: According to a report by Al Rajhi Capital, the Saudi telecoms market looks highly saturated with penetration inching toward 200 percent, Saudi Gazette has reported. The data segment, however, still offers growth opportunities and remain the key driver for local players, the report noted. Data penetration is currently at a low 40 percent and with smartphone penetration estimated to reach 50 percent by 2016, there is significant potential for data usage over the coming years, it said.MOBILY EYEING ATHEEB STAKE: Bayanat al-Oula, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia's second-largest mobile operator, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), has signed a memorandum of understanding with four shareholders in Etihad Atheeb to buy a controlling interest in the loss-making fixed line operator, Reuters has reported. The agreement requires regulatory approvals to be obtained and for Bayanat to complete due diligence by November 30. Batelco has a 15 percent stake in Etihad Atheeb and it is unclear whether the company plans to sell.STC EXPANDS FTTH NETWORK: Saudi Telecom Co (STC) has upgraded its FTTH network to allow more than 600 locations to connect with the 6,000km FTTH network across the kingdom, Saudi Gazette has reported. The company's existing network currently serves more than 200,000 households with FTTH services at high speeds of 1000 MB/s.FACEBOOK VOWS TO MAKE WEB ACCESS MORE AFFORDABLE: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Qualcomm Inc and four other companies have been enlisted by Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook Inc's for a project aimed at bringing internet access to people around the world who can't afford it, mirroring efforts by Google Inc. and others, Reuters has reported. The project, called internet.org, has been launched Wednesday, and will focus on enabling the next five billion people without access to come online, Zuckerberg said. "The goal of Internet.org is to make internet access available to the two-thirds of the world who are not yet connected and to bring the same opportunities to everyone that the connected third of the world has today," he said.STC TO PROVIDE JABAL OMAR PROJECT WITH TELECOM, IT SOLUTIONS: Saudi property developer Jabal Omar for Development has signed up Saudi Telecom Co (STC) to provide smart integrated telecom and IT services and solutions for a period of 10 years, Arab News has reported. The deal is an expansion of the basic agreement relevant to execution of the telecom network infrastructure for the development, signed in 2008. With a total area of 230,000 sq m, the Jabal Omar project is the second-biggest after the Holy Haram expansion project. It comprises 26 world-class hotels spread among 38 towers, each of which consists of between 20 and 48 storeys.SAMSUNG TO UNVEIL WATCH-LIKE PHONE ON SEPTEMBER 4: A wristwatch-like device is set for release by Samsung Electronics next month that can make phone calls, surf the web and handle e-mails, Bloomberg has reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. The Galaxy Gear will be powered by Google's Android operating system and go on sale this year to beat a potentially competing product from Apple Inc., the people said. The device will be unveiled September 4, two days before the IFA consumer electronics show begins in Berlin, one of the people said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at .ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉價錢