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AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, telecommunications briefsJan 15, 2013 (AME Info - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- SAMSUNG SOLD 100M GALAXY S SMARTPHONES SINCE 2010: Samsung Electronics has announced that global sales of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones had topped 100 million since the first model debuted in 2010, AFP has reported. The original Galaxy S phone, launched in June 2010, sold 25 million units. The Galaxy S II, launched in April 2011, racked up sales of more than 40 million, and the S III has reached the same volume since coming on the market in May last year, Samsung said. MOBILY AGREES WITH ERICSSON, HUAWEI TO UPGRADE NETWORK: Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has awarded contracts totalling $256m to leading telecoms vendors to execute and upgrade its 3G and 4G networks, Arab News has reported. Ericsson and Huawei, which signed contracts for SR563m and SR400m, respectively, in addition to a number of other specialised companies will work to implement their plans to expand and upgrade Mobily's 3G and the 3.5G networks that cover about 96 percent of the populated areas across the kingdom. The new contracts will also enable Mobily to expand its LTE network to provide innovative services to its customers and will assist to maintain operation efficiency as well. "As per the signed contracts, the duration of implementing these huge projects is one year, and we expect to complete all expansion and upgrade operations during the first half of the year," said Mobily CEO Khalid Al-Kaf. JORDAN TO FLOAT BROADBAND PROJECT TENDER IF TELECOMS FIRMS DON'T RESPOND: Jordan's information and communications technology ministry has said it is awaiting responses from the country's telecoms operators indicating whether they are willing to go into partnership with the government to complete the National Broadband Network project, Jordan Times has reported. "If none of the kingdom's telecoms operators show an interest in completing the project, the ministry will float a tender in February to complete a new phase of the project at a cost of JD30m," minister of industry and trade and minister of information and communications technology, Hatem Halawani, told the daily. The National Electric Power Co showed an interest in offering its infrastructure to facilitate the implementation of the project, Halawani added. NOKIA UPBEAT OVER STRONG LUMIA SALES: Finnish handset maker Nokia has issued a positive fourth-quarter guidance beating its expectations on both the feature phones and the Lumia front, Forbes has reported. Lumia shipment volume was 4.4 million units, more than four times the same in the fourth quarter of 2011. As a result of the solid performance, Nokia said its devices division is expected to regain underlying profitability in Q4 2012. MOBILY TO RAISE CAPITAL BY 10 percent THROUGH BONUS SHARES: Saudi-based Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has said it has approved a board recommendation for a 10 percent increase in capital through a bonus share issue, Reuters has reported. The firm said a general assembly meeting approved a recommendation of the board to increase the company's capital to SR7.7bn from SR7bn through a bonus share for every 10 owned by registered shareholders. MNP TO BE INTRODUCED IN QATAR BY MONTH-END : Qatar's telecoms regulator ictQatar is set to introduce mobile number portability (MNP) by the end of January in a move likely to increase competition in the sector, Reuters has reported. MNP would give residents "the ability to more freely choose the best service provider to meet their needs", the regulator said, adding that this was an important part of the liberalisation of Qatar's telecoms market. VODAFONE SAYS BLACKBERRY SERVICE IN EMEA DISRUPTED: UK-based mobile operator Vodafone has said that some of its customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa were not receiving emails via their Blackberry phones due to a Vodafone router error, Wall Street Journal has reported. "Services are in the process of being restored and we continue to monitor the situation closely," a Vodafone spokesman added. Research In Motion said that "all BlackBerry services are operating normally" but acknowledged that "a wider Vodafone service issue" was impacting some of its BlackBerry customers across EMEA. "We are supporting Vodafone's efforts to resolve the issue as soon as possible." ___ (c)2013 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at www.ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |