Telecom Operators

Etisalat Group has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2020, boasting a 6% increase in consolidated net profit.

Following reports last month that Telecom Egypt and Vodafone Egypt had both made bids for new spectrum in the 2600MHz band, local press reports are now claiming that Orange Egypt and Etisalat Misr have officially requested additional frequencies being offered by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA).

stc announced the company’s preliminary financial results for the period ending at 30 September 2020. The highlights include:

Batelco has announced that its 5G network now covers 95% of the Kingdom’s population across all four governorates, making it the first operator in Bahrain to provide nationwide 5G coverage. The telco signed an agreement with hardware vendor Ericsson in March 2019 to deploy a national 5G mobile network over a period of two years and went on to launch the country’s first commercial fifth-generation network on 5 June 2019. Initially limited to Amwaj and Reef Island, coverage was gradually extended to areas of the Northern, Southern, Muharraq and Capital governates by early 2020.

stc and Rakuten Mobile announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim of collaborating in the field of innovation and strategic mobile technology. The two companies will explore future opportunities to collaborate in various technology domains, including, fully autonomous digital platform serving telecommunication cloud network, OpenRAN deployment options for greenfield and brownfield use-cases, operating models and business value realization.

Etisalat is the first operator in UAE to unveil the HTC 5G Hub, an innovative 5G mobile smart hub that harnesses 5G speeds for home, business, and everywhere in between. The device enables smooth 4K video streaming, low-latency gaming, and 5G mobile hotspot features for up to 20 users. Priced at AED 3,299, the HTC 5G Hub is exclusively available now at Etisalat’s online store as well as its retail stores across the UAE. 

The Consortium of the main Saudi telecom carriers, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Integrated Telecom Company (ITC) signed the agreement of the Saudi National Fiber Network (SNFN) modernization project with their partner Huawei. By building the first 5G and B2B-driven, ultra-broadband optical backbone network in the Middle East, the SNFN project will contribute to the end-to-end network transformation and agile automation strategy as part of the 2030 Vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ooredoo Oman and Oman Broadband (OBB) have signed an agreement to connect remote regions with fixed broadband internet under an initiative of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The parties will provide quality satellite bitstream to previously under-served areas in a number of governates across the Sultanate.

Zain KSA has announced signing an exclusive partnership agreement with OSN, through which would enable its mobile and fiber (FTTH) customers to enjoy complimentary access to the OSN streaming application.

As TELUS continues to expand its next-generation 5G network across the country, UK-based Opensignal has announced that TELUS is the fastest network in the world.