Telecom Operators

2015 marked a fantastic year of accomplishments and development, especially for touch, the leading mobile telecommunicationsand dataoperatorin Lebanon. The company, which is managed by Zain group, the pioneering mobile and data services operator in the Middle East and North Africa group, has taken the market by storm, reaching an all-high of 53.8% in terms of market share. Touch has significantly strengthened its stance as a leader and as the Lebanese people's preferred network operator. The company sealed 2015 with a groundbreaking 81% of the total share of new customer acquisitions for the year. The operator now serves a total of more than 2.27 million customers, 68% of which are data subscribers.

Zain Group announced its consolidated financial results for the year 2015 and fourth quarter ended 31 December, 2015.

Since your vision is customer first, in what way are you increasing customer trust and satisfaction?
As management, one of the most important themes we have been pushing across the organization is the theme of enhancing customer experience; and therefore, we focus on all the touch points with the customer. For example, for our consumer side of the business we focus on enhancing the performance of our call centers and sale offices - so both infrastructures. And over the last two years, we have invested heavily in enhancing our interaction with our customers through digital channels - through our Twitter account and Facebook, you name it. We have seen an increased reliance for customers on these digital channels to an extent that STC now is one of the pioneers not only in the region but also on a worldwide scale as it relates to how telcos are supporting their customers through digital channels.

Etisalat Group has set a new benchmark for the industry by being shortlisted in eleven categories in this year's Global Mobile Awards (The Glomos).

Oordeoo is set to demonstrate a range of innovative solutions and services at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2016. The innovative mobile company will use its presence at the event to highlight the incredible progress it has made in updating and optimizing networks in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, as well as the range of solutions that Ooredoo companies are delivering over these next-generation networks.

STC said it has raised its share in VIVA to a controlling stake after acquiring 25.8 percent of shares for $425 million.

5G is one of the most anticipated technology breakthroughs, and will be high on the agenda at Mobile World Congress 2016. Therefore, racing to get ahead and get a grip on the technology as soon as possible, U.S. operator AT&T has followed the footsteps of its rival Verizon by announcing plans to trial 5G later in 2016, revealing partnerships with Ericsson and Intel to further develop the technology for use.

KT and Nokia recently conducted the industry's first eMTC field trial, reiterating their commitment to foster a connected world powered by future-ready telecommunications technology. The trial was conducted on KT's LTE network using Nokia's Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station, wherein eMTC utilized only 1.4MHz of the full 20 MHz LTE system, leaving the remaining spectrum free for normal LTE traffic. The trial marks an important milestone for the Internet of Things, allowing for coexistence with the existing LTE network as well as providing extended coverage.

Ericsson has partnered with telecommunications operator Etisalat to bring the Ericsson Radio Dot System to the Dubai Outlet Mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Zain Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) posted record financial results for the year ended 31st December 2015, recording a significant 48 percent increase in EBITDA to reach SAR 1,629 million, for the 12 months period, up from SAR 1,100 million during the same period of 2014. For the fourth quarter of 2015, the company witnessed a 47 percent increase in EBITDA reaching SAR 405 million up from SAR 275 million in Q4 2014.