Iran - Double Standards

MTN Group has denied allegations made by US-based lobbying group Uani that it bought technology that allowed the Iranian government to track mobile users, saying in a letter to the lobbyists that its Iranian unit is compliant with all laws, Dow Jones Newswires has reported. The claim was made in a letter to MTN's CEO in January. Similar claims have been made of Huawei and Nokia. However the Lawful Interception Management System is a feature of mobile network architecture, mandated by the US Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). 

Zain Mobile Signs up for Windows SmartPhones

Microsoft and Zain are co-operating to promote Windows Smartphones in the Middle East, the Kuwait-based telco said in a statement issued on Sunday. The deal was struck last week in Barcelona.

It is planned to launch Windows Phone software later this year, jointly with smartphone devices from selected manufacturers, which will be targeted at businesses and consumers in Zain’s mobile operations in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan.

It is envisaged that the partnership will permit the development of an applications ecosystem within Zain’s mobile network, facilitating developers to create and publish applications for the marketplace.

Nabeel Bin Salamah, CEO of Zain Group noted that, ‘the smartphone has become a necessary item in today’s society…’. Gustavo Fuchs, Microsoft Mobility Director, Middle East and Africa said that the growth of smartphones is fuelling the global mobile market. He quoted research house International Data Corporation (IDC) as having forecast that the Windows Phone will have the second largest share of the smartphone market by 2015.

He noted the growth of smartphones in the region with a prediction of 38 percent year-on-year growth for 2012.  

Successful Conference Launch on the Use of Mobiles in Community Development

Credemus Associates launched the successful conference entitled 'The World in the Palm of Your Hands:SMS and Mobile Communications.' The conference took place on Friday the 2nd of March at the premises of DLA Piper in Central London and Ken Banks and Hadjo Van Beijma of Frontline SMS and TexttoChange talked about the possibility of creating local sustainable communication projects in Africa using SMS. They discussed maximising messages by linking SMS dissemination to radio programmes and other community messaging systems. The Founder of Credemus Associates, Fiyaz Mughal OBE also talked about the use of SMS in countering extremism in Pakistan that had been undertaken between 2010 - 2012. He spoke about the opportunities that SMS and mobile engagement provide such as giving rich data on public opinion in real time and in snapshots at specific times. Fiyaz also went onto talk about the work that Faith Matters (www.faith-matters.org) had undertaken in Pakistan on assessing public opinion using SMS immediately after the killing of Usama Bin Laden. The findings he suggested, were startling.

All three social entrepreneurs talked about the cheapness of using SMS which they effectively utilised using existing mobile networks and they also discussed health programmes that were developed on the back of the use of SMS. The use of SMS to check whether women were aware of their HIV status in Uganda was one programme for example that was undertaken by TexttoChange with over 90% of the women surveyed being aware of their HIV status. Compare that to the UK and it puts us all to shame!

The conference also provided participants with a strong insight into the use of social media and ensuring that messages are synergised using different social media sources. The conference rounded up with a panel discussion on the future direction of mobile use on community development work and the need to develop a space in the UK where such issues could be discussed. The good practice around SMS and mobile engagement with communities was highlighted at length and provided participants with plenty of good examples of work that they could undertake in this arena to increase innovation and community penetration. The future looks good; the future is certainly mobile!