Egyptian telecommunications company Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. said Friday that it's boosting its stake in Wind Mobile Canada, a relatively new player in Canada's wireless sector, after agreeing to acquire Wind Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera's stake in the company. Terms weren't disclosed. Orascom said it will hold an indirect 99.3% stake in Globalive Wireless Management Corp., which operates under the Wind Mobile brand in Canada. It said completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval of the conversion of Orascom's non-voting shares into voting shares, which would result in Orascom holding an indirect 65.1% voting and economic interest in Globalive immediately before closing the purchase of shares from a holding company controlled by Mr. Lacavera. Orascom currently holds an indirect 32% voting interest and 65.1% economic interest in Wind Mobile. Orascom said Mr. Lacavera will step down as Wind Mobile's chairman and chief executive when the transaction closes. It said Mr. Lacavera, who will remain honorary chairman of Wind Mobile but won't have an operational role, is undertaking a new business venture this year called Globalive Capital. Orascom said Wind Mobile had about 600,000 subscribers in Canada, making it the country's fourth-largest wireless carrier. More»

Anne Patterson,U.S ambassador to Cairo, said she will make a visit to Egypt’s smart village by the end of this month. It is the first visit for Patterson since she has been named the U.S. ambassador to Cairo. Patterson will discuss the latest developments in the country's telecommunications sector in regard to its achievements and also its future plans. More»

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia said it will cut over 1000 IT jobs, including 820 employees who will transfer to HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services, as part of an already-announced restructuring. It said 300 jobs will be cut altogether, and that most of the reductions would be in Finland. The cuts are part of Nokia's plans to cut 10,000 jobs, including 3,700 in Finland. More»

The number of mobile subscribers in Egypt has hit around 95.6 million by last of November, according to Egyptian Ministry of Information Technology and Communications' latest report.  The report showed that Vodafone has obtained the biggest share of market for the number of mobile users of 40.9% as they have reached 39.1 million subscribers. Mobinil was ranked second seizing 34.7% of Egyptian mobile subscribers that reached 33.17 million. For Etisalat, the number of subscribers raised to 22.9 million during September to make its market share reached around 24% of the Egyptian mobile market. More»

UAE mobile subscribers will have re-register their SIM cards whenever they renew or change visas, Emirates 24|7 can reveal. "This is a directive by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) and so our subscribers will have submit their new documents whenever they renew or change their visas," said Yasser Al Yousuf , Director - Premium Personal Market, du. "For the first re-registration our subscribers have to personally visit our counters, but we are working on providing different options for subsequent registrations and online will be one of them." Over three million of du mobile subscribers have re-registered under 'My Number, My Identity' campaign, Al Yousuf said, adding remaining users will be divided into five to six more batches. More»

Saudi Telecom Company ( STC ) once again teamed up with Nokia Siemens Networks to ensure millions of Haj pilgrims enjoyed the best possible mobile service. Nokia Siemens Networks successfully ensured STC 's network performance remained high with 99.9 percent network availability, despite the huge increase in the traffic. As the sole GSM and 3G radio supplier, Nokia Siemens Networks provided STC with its Single Radio Access Network (RAN) and Special Event Support Services (SESS). The unique event, with an extremely high-number of mobile users, involves the movement of millions of people creates high-density traffic, requiring SESS to maintain optimal network performance under exceptional conditions. More»

STC announced its new and exclusive offer intended to current and new postpaid customers. The offer shall extend to (3) three months beginning Jan. 14, 2013 during which customers may enjoy unlimited voice calls and SMS within STC's network. Postpaid customers may enjoy the offer for SR 119 and may get further information about it by sending SMS code "4810" to "902", or via any of STC's customer-care centers. STC has previously introduced Saving Keys (My Club Key, Friends Key, International Key, SMS Key, Students Key and Jawal Key) which allow customers to tailor their packages to their needs by adding the relevant key for the package suitable for their monthly use and to ultimately get the best monthly subscription at the most cost-effective price. The offer reaffirms STC's commitment to fulfilling customer needs and allowing them mobile services at competitive prices by continuously offering exclusive and diversified packages that highlight the company's dedication to facilitating services to its customers based on studying their needs and coherently accomplishing its marketing and business objectives. More»

Mobile telephone companies have urged customers not to panic over the latest re-registration of SIM cards deadline which falls on Thursday. The 'My Number, My Identity' campaign was ordered by the Telecom Regulatory Authority TRA and could take months to complete. The Thursday deadline is only for a small fraction of mobile telephone users - all of whom will have received several SMS messages in the last two weeks reminding them to go to a du or Etisalat shop with their passport and ID card to complete the mandatory process. Director of du's Premium Personal Market, Yasser Al Yousuf told 7DAYS: "It's not all customers who are affected. Selected customers who we have communicated with through SMS are affected. More»

Shares of Sharp and other suppliers of iPhone parts to Apple have fallen after reports of a cut in orders for the iPhone 5. Apple has reduced orders by about 50% for its latest model, according to the Nikkei newspaper in Japan. Sharp, which makes display panels for the device, slumped as much as 7% in Tokyo trade. Speaker-maker ACC Technologies fell 4.2% in Hong Kong. Apple shares hit an 11-month low in New York on Monday after the report. Apple has seen increased competition in the smartphone market in recent months. South Korea's Samsung Electronics, which offers a wider variety of smartphones, recently overtook Apple as the world's largest smartphone maker by market share. Some analysts have said that Apple will need to come out with a cheaper smartphone to target customers in emerging markets. More»

Dell Inc is in talks with private equity firms on a potential buyout, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, confirming reports that sent shares in the world's No. 3 PC maker soaring 13 percent to nearly a eight-month high. The firms are now holding discussions on a deal with billionaire Chief Executive and founder Michael Dell, who owns about 14 percent of the company, according to one source with knowledge of the matter. The Wall Street Journal cited unidentified sources as saying TPG and Silver Lake could team up on an offer, possibly in conjunction with other investors such as pension funds. JPMorgan Chase & Co was also involved in the negotiations, it added. The first source told Reuters any potential deal could be structured as a management-led buyout with Michael Dell at the helm. More»