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AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, telecommunications briefsDec 18, 2012 (AME Info - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- IRAN TO BECOME INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER BY NEXT MARCH: Iran has said it will be promoted to an Internet service provider to other countries after the first phase of the Europe-Persia Express Gateway (EPEG) becomes operational by the end of current Iranian year (ends March 20, 2013), Fars news has reported. "The EPEG is a communications highway which links Europe to Eastern Asia and once this project is officially inaugurated, Iran will be upgraded to Tier2 level (Internet service provider) from the current Tier3 level (Internet service consumer)," said the deputy head of infrastructure communications co, Mehdi Karimi Neyestani. EPEGs' bandwidth will hit about 3.2 Tbit /s and its length will reach 6,000km, he said. DU SECURES $100M LOAN FROM DBS BANK: UAE telecoms operator Du has announced the signing of a $100m, three-year loan with Singapore-based DBS Bank to help fund network improvements, Zawya Dow Jones has reported. The loan will be used for the acquisition of telecoms equipment from Huawei, and also to improve Du 's 3G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, said Du's chief executive, Osman Sultan. MOTOROLA RECEIVES SR867M FROM ZAIN FOR SAUDI UNIT CONTRACT: Kuwait's Zain has said it has paid SR867.8m ($231.4m) to Motorola on behalf of its unit Zain Saudi to cover costs related to a contract entered by the unit with the US firm, Reuters has reported. The payment, which covers services that Motorola had provided the Zain unit in 2009 and agreed to pay at a later stage, was made last week to alleviate financial burden from its Saudi unit and to support the company's operations, Zain said. ORANGE JORDAN SAYS PLAN FOR FOURTH OPERATOR 'NOT WISE': Jean-Francois Thomas, the CEO of Orange Jordan has said the government's plan to license a fourth mobile operator in the kingdom is unwise and will negatively affect the telecoms market in the country, Jordan Times has reported. "The decision to open the door for a fourth mobile operator at this point is not wise at all...It is not because we believe competition is unhealthy but it is because the level of competition in the market is already high," Thomas said. According to official figures, mobile penetration in Jordan reached 138 percent by the end of September of this year, with about 8.767 million mobile subscriptions. STC INDONESIAN SUBSIDIARY PLANS TOWER SALE: PT Axis Telekom Indonesia, controlled by Saudi Telecom Co (STC), is planning to sell 1,600 telecoms towers worth around $300m, Reuters has reported, citing three sources with direct knowledge to matter. The Indonesian unit of the Gulf's biggest telecoms operator is in talks with PT Tower Bersama Infrastructure and PT Sarana Menara Nusantara, which are bidding for the towers, the sources said. Proceeds from the sale will be used for debt refinancing and investment, they said. OMAN'S FIXED-LINE SUBSCRIBERS GROW 4.9 percent: According to Oman's National Centre for Statistics and Data (NCSD), the total number of subscribers of the fixed phone service in the country rose 4.9 percent to 301,424 at the end of October 2012, from 287,323 at the end of December 2011, Times of Oman has reported. Subscribers of post-paid and pre-paid GSM service also grew 4.8 percent to 5,194,160 at the end of October 2012, compared with 4,809,248 by the end of 2011, the report said. SAMSUNG TO LAUNCH GALAXY S4 IN FEB 2013: Samsung Electronics is developing the Galaxy Note III with a 6.3" screen using an OLED display, Korea Times has reported, citing local parts suppliers. The company's is also working on the Galaxy S4, which will be introduced in February's Mobile World Congress (MWC), the report said. US COURT RULES AGAINST APPLE IN PATENTS INFRINGEMENT CASE: A US federal jury has decided that Apple Inc. has misappropriated protected technology for its handheld devices, Bloomberg has reported. The infringement case was brought by patent-licensing firm MobileMedia against the iPhone maker contending it infringed 14 patents for electronics. In its complaint, MobileMedia contended it would suffer "irreparable injury" if Apple was allowed to use the patented inventions in its iPhone without paying royalties. US District Judge Sue L Robinson hasn't yet scheduled a trial on damages, which MobileMedia chief executive Larry Horn said could be "substantial." ___ (c)2012 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at www.ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |