[May 16, 2013] AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, telecommunications briefs [AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates] Tweet (AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 16--ORASCOM TELECOM REPORTS FIRST-QUARTER NET LOSS: Egyptian mobile phone operator Orascom Telecom Holding has reported a net loss in the first quarter of 2013, blaming foreign exchange losses and impairment of some assets, Reuters has reported. The firm made a net loss before minority interests of $204m for the quarter, compared with a net profit of $120.4m a year earlier. The loss was "mainly driven by the adverse impact of foreign exchange losses of $173m and the impairment of assets held for sale by $58m, as to reflect the fair value of our operations in CAR (Central African Republic) and Burundi," the company said. BLACKBERRY EYES BUDGET SMARTPHONE MARKET WITH NEW Q5: BlackBerry looks to be eyeing a bigger slice of the smartphone market with the addition of the cut-price Q5, running on the BB10 operating system. BBM COMING TO IPHONE AND ANDROID THIS SUMMER: BlackBerry's signature messaging app BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) will be available to download in the App Store for iPhone and via Google Play for Android devices from summer 2013, it was announced last night. ORASCOM TELECOM TURNS DOWN ALTIMO'S BUYOUT OFFER: Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holding has said its board of directors had recommended rejecting an offer by a subsidiary of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Altimo to buy out the mobile company for $0.70 a share, Reuters has reported. An independent financial adviser had put a fair value Orascom's shares at $0.86 per share, the company said. "Hence we see that the offer price is below the fair value of the share by 18.7 percent," it said. VIRGIN BIDS FOR SAUDI MVNO LICENCE: Saudi Arabia's Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has said Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa (VMMEA) and four more companies have submitted applications for virtual telecom licences in the kingdom, Reuters has reported. VMMEA, part-owned by Virgin Group, is competing against Dubai-based Axiom, as well as consortiums headed by local companies FastNet and Safari and another that includes London-based Lebara, said the CITC. The telecoms regulator will sell three mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licences, as part of a plan to liberalise the country's telecom market, with Saudi poised to become only the second of the six GCC members after Oman to allow MVNOs. TELECOM EGYPT REPORTS 1.4 percent GROWTH IN Q1 REVENUE: Telecom Egypt has said its first-quarter revenue rose 1.4 percent to EGP2.717bn ($390.12m) over the same period last year, Reuters has reported. The landline monopoly posted a net profit of EGP858m and EGP947m for its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). BLACKBERRY'S BBM TO BECOME AVAILABLE ON ANDROID, IOS PLATFORMS: BlackBerry has unveiled plans to make its instant messaging service available for the iPhone or Android platforms, The Independent has reported. If approved by Apple and Google, BBM will be available as a free download in the Apple App Store and Google Play store. BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was previously only available for those with BlackBerry handsets, but will be working on other smartphones by the summer, the Canadian firm said. ___ (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 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]