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  SAMENA Daily Newsletter

:.Daily News Briefing.:

December 29, 2015

www.samenacouncil.org

SAMENA Council Position Statements
Cullen International

Members

  1. Etisalat to launch first 4K Ultra-HD TV service in Middle East & Africa
    Earlier this year at the "Ultra-Broadband Summit 2015" hosted in UAE, industry experts recognized that the MENA region has a tradition of high content consumption and is currently growing at a faster rate than almost any other emerging market in the world... Read More
  2. Zain tests 4.5G mobile broadband, reaching 1 Gbps speeds
    Zain is planning to provide new services powered by 4.5G technology, including voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Narrow band IoT machine-to-machine applications... Read More
  3. STC demonstrates a new 4.5G (LTE TDD+ technology) for the first time in MENA and Europe; throughput exceeds 1.5 Gbps
    Since its introduction, STC 4G-LTE network has witnessed tremendous growth in data traffic, coupled to sharp rise in the number of LTE subscribers and high utilization of the network. This necessitated the need to increase the data throughputs in the network... Read More

Policy and Regulation

  1. Mexico preps for analogue switch-off starting January 1st
    A resolution of Mexico's Senate 20 days ago gave TV networks who haven’t yet completed the process one more year to digitalise their infrastructure... Read More
  2. Pakistan telecom regulator prepares to implement the new telecom policy
    Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has started analyzing the Telecommunication Policy 2015 recently released by Ministry of IT&T after approval from Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on 11th December 2015... Read More
  3. Vietnam government looks to sell stake in telecom operator MobiFone
    The Ministry of Information and Communication, which currently owns 100 percent of MobiFone, will soon submit the share sale plan to the government for approval, the media quoted Minister Nguyen Bac Son, who expects the sale to raise US$887.82 million... Read More
  4. Vietnam government looks to sell stake in telecom operator MobiFone
    The Ministry of Information and Communication, which currently owns 100 percent of MobiFone, will soon submit the share sale plan to the government for approval, the media quoted Minister Nguyen Bac Son, who expects the sale to raise US$887.82 million... Read More

South Asia

  1. Reliance Jio 4G targets 100 million subscribers in 2016-17
    The company has started offering 4G connections to its employees to test for possible glitches before they are offered to the general public... Read More

Middle East

  1. Saudi Arabia tops in Internet engagement
    Since 2011, Saudi Arabia has moved up five positions in the ranking. Today, the country ranks highest in terms of engagement - with a score of 94 and a ranking of 36 compared to 33, 36 and 57 in 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively.... Read More
  2. Boston Consulting Group’s 2015 e-Intensity Index study ranks the UAE ahead of major countries on Internet economy
    The UAE, which has a high GDP per capita, approximately 9 million internet users, and one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world, leads the Middle East when it comes to the maturity of its internet economy... Read More

North Africa

  1. Starz Play SVOD service arrives in Tunisia
    Ooredoo Tunisia already carries a selection of Tunisian TV channels from MobiBledi and MobiForja, which comprises 23 cross-genre channels... Read More

3G, 4G & Beyond

  1. Qualcomm inks 3G and 4G license deal with Haier, Tianyu and QiKu
    Qualcomm has granted Haier a royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell 3G WCDMA and CDMA2000 including EV-DO and 4G LTE including 3-mode GSM, TD-SCDMA and LTE-TDD subscriber units for use in China... Read More

OTT, Alternative Telecom

  1. Ooma adds photo messaging to Talktone OTT app
    Until now Talkatone offered free calling and texting over Wi-Fi and mobile data connections. Talkatone can be used to communicate for free, even with correspondents who do not use the app... Read More

Mobile Content, Mobile TV & IPTV

  1. Pay-TV providers to hit direct-to-consumer route in 2016
    With the core concept of the TV channel fragmenting, 2016 will see a growing number of broadcasters tapping into burgeoning online video spend by selling their content directly to viewers... Read More
  2. BT TV becomes first UK service to offer 4K Netflix content
    Customers of the IPTV service BT TV customers will be able to view shows via BT’s new Ultra HD YouView+ set-top box with Netflix’s Ultra HD plan... Read More

Global Telecom Update

  1. Facebook CEO defends free Internet plan
    Local cellphone providers partner with Facebook to offer a suite of online tools that customers can use for free. Supporters say that employing this practice, called "zero-rating," allows people in developing countries to access the Internet even if they can't pay for it... Read More

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 Disclaimer: Information contained herein has been obtained from sources, which we deem reliable. SAMENA Telecommunications Council is not liable for any misinformed decisions that the reader may reach by being solely reliant on information contained herein. Expert advice should be sought.

 

 

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