Propelled to new heights by competition, GSM lines in Saudi Arabia grew by 44.8% rate in the first eleven months of 2005 to reach 13.3 million. Fixed line, however, grew by a meagre 2.5% in the first nine months of 2005.

Thomson Cirpack soft switches have been purchased by Americatel, an affiliate of Chile' s national telecommunications carrier Entel, and service provider in Guatemala , Honduras , Peru and El Salvador..

Andrew Corporation has won a strategic multiyear contract from a Tier 1 operator in the Middle East for a major geolocation system deployment...

Cable & Wireless Panama first started providing GSM services in 2003. By 2005, it was catering to 64,000 mobile subscribers and seeing a 35% increase in GSM service revenue from the previous fiscal year...

Roamware has launched its advanced roaming services across 12 mobile networks owned by the Cable & Wireless International Communications Company in the Caribbean region...

DigiLinea, the specialist VoIP service provider to the US-Hispanic and Latin American markets, has announced the availability of new unlimited calling plans to the USA and Latin America for clients residing in Central America...

The Arab world's largest communications network is set to overhaul its customer services. Convergys has signed a contract with Saudi Telecom Company, which provides mobile, landline, data, and Internet services...

Users of mobile phones in Brazil will experience less interference if spectrum is allocated efficiently. The GSM Association has advised Brazilian regulator Anatel that it can build on its already successful spectrum policy if its allocation of the IMT-2000 core band in Brazil is consistent with global standards.

CSL and Nokia have demonstrated what is claimed to be the industry's first seamless service continuity between HSDPA and EDGE networks. In practice, this means seamless hand-overs from HSDPA to EDGE and back without service interruptions...

Pakistan has won this year's GSMA Government Leadership Award, which recognises exceptional work by governments globally in the field of mobile communications policy...

The proliferation of mobile communications in developing countries has the potential to bring a wide range of financial services to an entirely new customer base, according to a new report commissioned by the Information for Development Program (infoDev) in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the GSM Association...

First National Bank has selected Clickatell to extend its inContact alert service to Namibia . inContact immediately alerts customers of any transactions on their bank accounts via a text message to their mobile phones...

Two Indian mobile operators, Airtel and Idea Cellular, have agreed to use fastmobile Inc fmX software technology to support a series of message service trials. fastmobile designs and supplies integrated messaging and content services for mobile network operators: the fmX platform is to be used in trials exploring the impact of mobile communications in developing countries...

Lucent Technologies has unveiled its Base Station Router, a Bell Labs innovation that integrates key components of 3G mobile networks into a single network element, thus "flattening" what is typically a more complex architecture...

Quebec-based PolarSat is supplying its FlexiDAMA hub and remote terminals to the Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company...

Indonesian operator Hutchison Telecom Indonesia, a joint venture between Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd and the CP Group of Indonesia, has awarded Nokia with a convergent charging solution contract that will see it provide, integrate and manage an innovative network solution for Hutchison Telecom Indonesia...

Mobile operators in developing countries have bought or ordered more than 12 million mobile phones from Motorola under the Emerging Market Handset programme run by the GSM Association (GSMA).

Mobitel, the Bulgarian mobile operator, has commissioned Openmind Networks to deploy its SMS Intelligent Load Optimiser and its SMS Direct Deliver Router. These new systems enable Mobitel to deal with higher volumes of SMS traffic more efficiently and cost effectively...

Reuters in India has reported a ministerial speech claiming that the country, the world's fastest growing mobile market, could be adding between 6-8 million new users each month once networks reach all potential rural customers. The comments were made by Telecommunications Minister Dayanidhi Maran at 3GSM Barcelona .

Nokia has won a US$170 million GSM/GPRS network expansion deal with China' s Henan Mobile Communications Corporation Ltd. The contract is intended to greatly enhance network capacity and coverage in the Henan province, putting Henan MCC in an extremely competitive position.

Globalcom Satellite is now unveiling the Nera WorldPro 1000 portable satellite terminal. The terminal will operate via Inmarsat's powerful new 4th generation satellite network on a service called BGAN...

Openmind Networks is deploying its SMS personalisation system called My SMS with the Bahrain Telecommunications Company. My SMS enables Batelco to introduce innovative solutions to its customers by offering them new, value-added services based on the most successful non-voice service to date, namely, SMS...

Mobile Telecommunications Limited of Namibia has signed a five-year exclusive contract with Motorola Limited for the supply of GSM/GPRS/EDGE and Canopy access network equipment...

Almost 30% more people (25 million) in Sub-Saharan Africa would have mobile phones if it was not for the unpredictable and short-term approach to regulation in many countries in the region, according to a PriceWaterhouse Coopers study published by the GSM Association (GSMA).

Alec Barton, Publisher of Developing Telecoms, finds great cause for encouragement from 3GSM Barcelona...  

Andrew Corporation has introduced a compact tower-mounted amplifier designed to provide operators with options for coverage and capacity enhancement for 3G networks...

Nokia has won a new MSC Server System contract with Telefónica Móviles Ecuador , which operates under the movistar brand, to enable more cost efficient voice service. Telefónica's subsidiary in Ecuador marks a new customer for Nokia and strengthens cooperation with Telefónica Móviles.

Kuwaiti owned Mobile Telecommunications Company Group (MTC), the largest GSM operator in the region, is to bid for the third GSM licence in Egypt . Mohamed Eid, MTC Country Manager Egypt, has stressed the advantage of winning the contract: employment opportunities for many Egyptians based on a high-quality local labour force.

In a deal valued at US$1.332 billion, MTC has acquired from Sudatel 61% of Sudanese mobile operator Mobitel. Mobitel currently has almost 2 million customers, up 70% in the last year. Funding for this new transaction was secured following the capital increase from an equity rights issue of US$2.3 billion.

Nokia and Greek mobile operator Cosmote have signed an agreement for the supply of WCDMA 3G radio network. With this 3G deal, Nokia, a long-term GSM infrastructure supplier to Cosmote, further cements its role in the development of Cosmote's mobile networks in Greece and elsewhere in the Balkans.

Wataniya Telecom today opened the first High Speed Downlink Packet Access network in the Middle East and Africa region, thereby making it the first operator in these two areas to offer mobile services beyond 3G.

Andrew Corporation has introduced what is believed to be the industry's first all-digital remote radio head, a high-power unit that is intended to provide cost savings and coverage flexibility for global 3G networks...