Etisalat Archive

1

BlackBerry services will continue

By
Emiratweet
– October 8, 2010
BlackBerry services will continue beyond October 11-...

BlackBerry services will continue beyond October 11- TRA. BlackBerry services in the UAE will continue beyond October 11, Telecom Regulatory Authority has said, reports WAM

TRA also acknowledged “the positive engagement and collaboration of Research In Motion (RIM) in reaching this regulatory compliant outcome”.

The UAE on Friday cancelled its decision to stop Blackberry services from Monday and said the facility would continue as normal apparently after reaching agreement with the Canadian manufacturers. TRA has confirmed that BlackBerry services are now compliant with the UAE’s telecommunications regulatory framework.

“Therefore”, the TRA assured today in a statement: “all Blackberry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur on October 11, 2010″.

TRA also acknowledged “the positive engagement and collaboration of Research In Motion (RIM) in reaching this regulatory compliant outcome”.

0

Etisalat confirms bid to buy 46% of Zain

By
Emiratweet
– September 30, 2010
UAE’s telecom service provider Emirates Telecommunications Corporation...

UAE’s telecom service provider Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (etisalat) on Wednesday confirmed that it has offered to buy a stake in Kuwait’s mobile operator Zain.

“Etisalat has submitted a preliminary conditional offer to buy a stake in Zain,” Ahmed bin Ali, Group Senior Vice-President, Corporate Communications at etisalat, said in a statement.

Etisalat had offered 1.7 dinars per share for the stake, the Arabic language channel said. Zain shares rose to a four-month high after the report. In June, etisalat, the Gulf’s second-largest telecoms firm, said it had not made any proposal to buy a stake in Zain, after a newspaper report said the two were in talks.

Zain offloaded its African assets earlier this year in a $9bn deal with India’s Bharti Airtel. Zain shares rose 7.9 per cent to 1.36 dinars after Wednesday’s report, its highest level since May 27, outperforming Kuwait’s index.

Etisalat’s shares rose 0.9 per cent, slightly outperforming Abu Dhabi’s bourse.

1

Flickr in now available in UAE

By
Emiratweet
– September 27, 2010
Once upon a time FLICKR was popular...

Once upon a time FLICKR was popular in UAE just like blackberry, facebook and twitter today. As usual the misuse of it by many on 22 June 2005 it got blocked. People freaked, alot got disappointed and many didnt like the action. After 5 years and in the past few hours people have realized that Flickr has been UNBLOCKED and after few confirmations and tests yes http://flickr.com is now available.

The TRA release the following statement: “The block, which was applied on ‘Flickr’ web site has been removed, however a partial block will remain active on some sections that provide improper content that contradicts with the UAE society values and tradition. (Flickr) was previously blocked by the TRA as it included some images, which oppose the values and culture of the society,” the statement concluded.

Hope that we learn from our mistakes and this time we make good use of it. Thank you Etisalat and DU! {now were waiting for good news on the Blackberry issue ;) }

Ahmad Nassef, Vice-President and Managing Director of Yahoo! Middle East, was quoted as saying: “Overall, this is a very positive development for UAE users, as well as advertisers.  “We are continuing to work with the authorities in the UAE to find a resolution that would lead to the unblocking of the Groups category.”

3

Etisalat Charged for an ad

By
Emiratweet
– September 22, 2010
Many might have seen this ad in...

Many might have seen this ad in Ramadan where Etistalat was ridiculing Du’s reception. Apparently TRA charged Etisalat 400 thousand DHS for being carried out by bypassing the regulations of commercials defined by the TRA (source). No information posted in our newspaper about it but it seems that DU is very upset since this has reached TRA.

Competition is good but it makes this happen but only if the right attitude and action plans were there. We shouldn’t adopt the belief that our competition is the enemy.  Instead, we should use our competition as an opportunity to grow and succeed. To benefit from your competition, there are 3 rules:

  1. Never bad-mouth your competition publicly.
  2. Never bad-mouth your competition in front of your staff.
  3. Never blame your competition for your lack of success.
1

Blackberry Ban

By
Emiratweet
– September 21, 2010
“So far, no progress has been made”...

“So far, no progress has been made” in the negotiations on allowing the UAE to access encrypted BlackBerry data, the Dubai daily Emarat Al-Yom cited a UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority official as saying.

Alot have been said about this matter and many announcements have been publicized which make us wonder what is true and what is not. TRA said their positive and RIM said they are positive,  DU and Etisalat made us sense that there are good news and again we hear that “UAE remains set to ban BlackBerry services”.

We are sure that alot of work has been put by all parties to solve this and come up with alternates and we appreciate all the hard work. Yet we would appreciate it if we don’t get swayed with different announcements and news. We understand that cybercrime is the most dangerous threat to the safety and security of any country. In fact so much so that even Interpol is not immune to hackers and the misuse of the liberties granted on the information highway are now more insidious than speedsters on the road.

We hope that with three weeks to go, BlackBerry will not only do its sums but also do the right thing and on the other hand we urge the people and media to not sway us and be positive as we wait for a clear and justified announcement.

Did you know: There are an estimated 500,000 BlackBerry users in the oil-rich UAE, which has a population of around six million people.

0

Optimistic Results

By
Emiratweet
– September 19, 2010
Chief Executive Partner of «Research In Motion...

Chief Executive Partner of «Research In Motion (RIM)» , Jim Balseli, said the talks between the Government of the UAE and the company on the exchange of user information «BlackBerry», is moving in a positive direction and cause for optimism. He added that that they are continuing their discussions with relevant agencies in the government of countries that threaten to stop the service,  to introduce alternative solutions and listen to the demands of suppliers and try to find solutions satisfactory to all parties.

There is progress in the talks with the authorities in those countries, and there will be solutions before the end of the deadline, but no service has been arrested. He expressed his optimism to make positive and constructive outcome during the talks, pointing out that the company respects the needs of government, and seeks to find a formula to cooperate fully in accordance with legal requirements, based on criteria the telecommunications sector. *yay*

The CEO of  Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (du), Fareed Faraydooni stated that the company hasn’t received any new instructions from the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) on the subject, pointing out that if an agreement is reached between the Canadian company and the Board, there will be many positive effects in domestic markets with the continued service.

On the other hand, an official at Etisalat, who preferred to be anonymous said that they are waiting for new instructions and can not comment on any special steps of the negotiations, until its announced officially.

We are positive and inshalla we hear good news ASAP!

0

Etisalat’s Alternative Package

By
Emiratweet
– August 3, 2010
The replacement packages on offer, for those...

The replacement packages on offer, for those who subscribed to the BlackBerry services on or before 31 July, consist of bundled SMS, MMS, data usage, voice minutes and alternative smartphones.

The 12 replacement phones available include Apple’s iPhone, and are conditional on customers signing a 12-month contract.

The other phones available for swap are: Nokia E72; Sony Ericsson X10 Mini; Sony Ericsson X10 Mini; Nokia E66; Sony Ericsson Vivaz; Nokia N900; Nokia N 97; Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro; Sony Ericsson Satio; Samsung Wave; and Samsung Galaxy S.

Full details of the offer are available at www.etisalat.ae/blackberry/alternative.html, So What do you think of the alternative?

1

Before We Rant!

By
Emiratweet
– August 3, 2010
Three days since  TRA announced the suspension...

Three days since  TRA announced the suspension of the blackberry service that would kick in on October 11 and last until a legal solution was reached. Alot of opinions alot of “why?” “not fair?” “give us real answers” not forgetting the rumors, and spam jokes too.

“Due to its technical nature, some BlackBerry services, like the messenger, email, and web browsing, remain beyond the implementation of local laws,” the TRA said.

UAE has around 500,000 blackberry subscribers, what is wrong with regulating and securing the services uses which can be a cause serious social, judicial and national security repercussions.

So What is the problem now?

The fact that the blackberry servers are hosted outside the country means that all information, emails, and communications are stored outside the country and is at risk  plus it is not in alignment with the UAE’s communication regulations and is a high cause of security risks. TRA’s decision took sometime because TRA tried to consume all options and went through extensive debate with RIM to propose a solution which is not yet given.

If RIM allowed one government a peek under the bonnet of the BlackBerry system, every other government would be forced to review their BlackBerry security procedures. – The National

^^^^ Then we hear that RIM Helps Russia, China Monitor BlackBerry Users’ E-mails ???

People before ranting about the suspension and getting led by rumors lets look at the bigger picture UAE hasn’t asked for anything different nor more .. Each country has its own local rules and regulations, lets have faith and trust in ours! Whether the above makes sense or not here is something to think about as you close this page

2

Now We Can Lock SMS Spam

By
Emiratweet
– July 7, 2010
Unwanted SMS messages could become a thing...

Unwanted SMS messages could become a thing of the past under a new policy rolled out yesterday by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to minimise spam from 7am to 9pm each day.

“All consumers will receive messages from their service providers requesting their consent with regard to receiving marketing SMS. Clients will not receive commercial SMS unless they approve it. Approvals are stored and retained either on paper or electronically for later review as per the policy requirements,” Al Ganem

Now you can “simply send ‘b etisalat’ via SMS to 1011 in order to unsubscribe from the promotional marketing messages from Etisalat.”  – Du customers who do not wish to receive promotions need to send a blank SMS to 5293, the provider said yesterday.

0

AppsArabia by Twofour54

By
Emiratweet
– June 5, 2010
Twofour54 ibtikar, the business arm of Abu...

Twofour54 ibtikar, the business arm of Abu Dhabi’s state-backed media zone, announced the launch of a seed fund designed to drive the development of Arabic-language mobile applications.

‘AppsArabia’, will offer capital to Arab entrepreneurs, developers and businesses to create homegrown apps for devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and Blackberry, Nokia and Android handsets. (how cool is that?)

twofour54 will also offer mentoring, commercial planning and a website that will put entrepreneurs in touch with app developers. Not to forget also, the successful projects will be sold under the AppsArabia brand, with developers taking a share of the profit once twofour54 has recouped its initial investment.

The fund is already in talks with UAE telecom firms Etisalat and du

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