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December
Etisalat will spend $1.2bn, raised in a loan, to expand its mobile network in Egypt
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Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat has borrowed $320m under as Islamic loan to expand its network
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VimpelCom’s plan to buy Naguib Sawiris’s telecoms business is unravelling because of opposition from 36% shareholder Telenor
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Turkcell, Etisalat, Mobily and other operators are building a 12.8 terabit cable linking Istanbul to the Gulf
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Etisalat is now set to buy just 40% of Zain after one shareholder withdrew its agreement to sell
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Vodafone has contracted Alcatel-Lucent to build a fixed fibre-to-the-home network in Qatar
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The satellite industry is responding to the worldwide demand for broadband access by funding new projects to expand services
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November
Orange is continuing its strategy to build in emerging markets with a plan to buy a stake in Iraqi operator
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Axiom Telecom, a retailer controlled by debt-laded Dubai Holding, is planning a share flotation to raise $382m
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Six companies, including France Telecom, Turkcell and Saudi Telecom, are bidding for Syria’s third mobile licence
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Ericsson, Huawei and NSN are to expand Etihad Etisalat’s Mobily operation in Saudi Arabia
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Etisalat, which is to buy Zain for $12bn, is to raise $8bn in bonds to fund the purchase
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Global Telecoms Business announces GTB 40 under 40 for Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific in addition to event for Europe and Americas
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Orascom’s Italian operation, Wind Telecomunicazioni, is to borrow €3.4bn ahead of its merger agreement with Russia’s VimpelCom
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Etisalat, controlled by the UAE government, appears set to take control of the remainder of Zain, though it will need to sell its shares in Zain Saudi Arabia
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October
Ericsson has won a contract to build a 4G network Partner Communications' Orange Israel
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Saudi Telecom is one of the companies interested in bidding for a mobile licence in Syria
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Saudi Telecom is planning to sell a stake in its mobile towers and is discussing a deal with GTL and Quippo from India
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Etisalat and Du are to partner Research In Motion with regulator’s approval to offer mobile banking services
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Etisalat CFO Salem Al-Sharhan says the company may borrow $9bn to finance its bid for 46% of Zain
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The UAE has dropped a ban, due to come into force today, on BlackBerry services after saying Research in Motion is meeting its rules
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Export-Import Bank of China has provided Emirates Integrated Telecommunications with $255m credit for 3G expansion
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Orascom’s operations including Italy’s Wind are likely to transfer to the control of VimpelCom under a deal with Orascom’s owner Naguib Sawiris
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Qatar’s Qtel is planning to issue $500m worth of bonds and has appointed banks to run investor meetings
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September
Months after Zain sold its African operations to Bharti, rival Etisalat is bidding for control of the rest of the company
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Malaysia’s largest operator, Maxis, has launched the Apple iPhone 4 to its customers
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Zain has approached banks to negotiate a syndicated loan worth $1.5bn, say reports
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Three companies, including Xfone 018, are expected to bid for two new mobile licences in Israel
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UAE fixed and mobile operator Du has a $207m loan, secured via NSN, to expand and upgrade its network
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Private equity group Permira has bought Asia Broadcast Satellite, in a venture with the existing management
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Nawras, the Oman operator owned by Qtel of Qatar, is to raise up to $600m in an offer of shares this month
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August
Zain’s Saudi Arabian operation is planning to fund the next phase of its growth through a $1.1bn rights issue
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Zain is expected to be one of the competitors for the third mobile licence in Syria, along with Turkcell and STC
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Orascom and Wind in Europe, the Middle East and north Africa may merge with VimpelCom and Telenor’s operations in Russia and eastern Europe, say reports
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July
A group of South Korean companies has won a $1bn deal to build a national and international network for Saudi Arabia’s ITC
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Etisalat is expected to buy a 26% stake in Reliance Communications for around $3bn, merging it with Swan
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Egyptian based Orascom Telecom has sold its internet service provider business to Mobinil, the mobile operator in which it has a minority stake
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June
Retail group Hamashbir has won a licence to set up an MVNO in Israel, but it needs to negotiate rates with infrastructure owners
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Etisalat is to invest $1.4bn in its Egyptian operation, Etisalat Misr, to compete with Mobinil and Vodafone
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Emirates operator Etisalat is considering buying a 26% stake in India’s Reliance Communciations for $4bn
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May
The board of Kuwait-based Zain has approved a bond issue, though the money will not be used unless required
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Vodafone Qatar is complaining that a deal between Virgin’s Richard Branson and Qatar Telecom breaks its licence terms
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BNP Paribas and four other banks have arranged a $2bn loan for Qatar’s QTel, with 17 banks in the syndication
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Qtel has launched Virgin Mobile in Qatar in a tie-up with Richard Branson, who is considering other partnerships with the company
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Three banks are lending $1.3bn to Etisalat’s Egyptian operation to fund network investment over the next three years
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Vodafone has won a new fixed-line licence in Qatar, allowing it to extend services to new areas of the Gulf state
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April
Tamin Telecom has won Iran’s third mobile licence, after two earlier attempts to award the licence to Etisalat and Zain were withdrawn
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Qatar’s QTel has appointed Nokia Siemens Networks to upgrade its 3G network and is seeking $2 billion in loans
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Emirates operator Du is planning a $272m share sale and is considering selling debt or Islamic bonds
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There are 500 WiMax 4G broadband networks in operation and the market is finally growing after Intel’s investment stimulus of $2 billion-plus
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France Telecom’s new CEO Stéphane Richard says that the company plans to spend €7 billion on acquisitions in Africa and the Middle East
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AT&T is to spend $1bn on network expansion in 2010, says company’s business solutions president Ron Spears
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The Palestine Authority is planning to offer a third mobile licence in 2013, Mashour Abu Daqqa, the territory’s telecoms minister has announced
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March
Mobile operator Vodafone Qatar has won a licence to operate fixed line services, though its shareholding may be just 25-30%
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A deal to sell Zain’s African operations, except for Sudan and Morocco, should be signed in the next few days, says Zain
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Saudi Telecom has awarded Alcatel-Lucent a contract for LTE trials in the second half of 2010
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Tata Communications, headed by Srinath Narasimhan, and Qatar Telecom are to extend the Tata Global Network into the Gulf
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February
Standard Chartered, Barclays and a number of other banks are discussing loans to Bharti to buy Zain’s African business
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Emirati operator Du, which made a $143m profit in 2009, plans to invest $587m in enhancing its network in 2010
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Dubai-based Oger Telecom wants tio raise its stake in Türk Telecom from 55% to 65% or more
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India's Bharti Airtel is buying Zain's African operations for $10.7 billion, more than three times what Zain paid for the company in 2005
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A former Kuwait politician, Nabil Bin Salama, has taken over from Saad al Barrak at the top of Zain
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UAE operator Du is to spend heavily to expand its network, while agreeing a network sharing deal with rival Etisalat
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Saad Al Barrak has resigned from his position as deputy chairman and group CEO of Zain, though he will continue to be CEO of the Saudi Arabian operation
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Zain is seeking a loan from international banks to help fund its expansion in Saudi Arabia
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January
As the world enters a period of economic instability there is a pressing need for mobile network operators to identify new horizons of growth