Demonstrating its success in providing top-of-the-range products and services, du has been recognised for its achievements with the ITP award for Best Content Delivery at the Digital Studio Industry Leadership Awards 2010. The award, which acknowledges outstanding achievements in the content delivery category, was received on behalf of du by Mohamed Saeed Al Shahi, senior director of broadcast services at du.

“We are deeply honoured to receive this award and remain committed to offering the most cutting-edge and innovative content to our TV customers. This achievement proves that du is succeeding in delivering exceptional quality products and services across both its entertainment and communication offerings,” commented Farid Faraidooni, Chief Commercial Officer, du.

Now in its sixth year, the Digital Studio Industry Leadership Awards acknowledges the efforts of individuals and companies that have contributed to the growth of the broadcast and production industry in the region.

The GSMA today announced that it is piloting a solution to address mobile messaging misuse caused by spam, which is a growing issue for consumers and mobile operators. The GSMA Spam Reporting Service will provide a worldwide clearinghouse of messaging threats and misuse which have been reported by mobile users. The GSMA Spam Reporting Service is in trials with leading operators including AT&T Mobility, Korea Telecom and SFR.

The GSMA Spam Reporting Service, which is operated on behalf of the GSMA by Cloudmark, Inc., will analyse SMS traffic and identify and aggregate reports of misuse submitted by mobile subscribers of participating networks via a short code. The short code ‘7726’, which spells “SPAM” on  most phones, will be used where local national numbering plans permit, in conjunction with an additional code ‘33700’, a universally recognised simple code, to encourage consumers to report instances of SMS spam. With this reporting mechanism, consumers will be able to direct alleged spam to a responsive feedback system, which will acknowledge the report and inform their service providers so that appropriate action can be taken. This action can include investigations, warnings and blocking of senders who have been repeatedly reported by end users as sending unsolicited or fraudulent messages. 

“The issue of mobile messaging misuse is a global, inter-operator problem and the GSMA Spam Reporting Service, along with other spam mitigation solutions such as spam filtering, is an important component of a comprehensive spam mitigation strategy for the industry,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, GSMA. “We have learnt from the online experience where spam is prolific and this service will enable mobile operators, mobile users and legitimate mobile marketers to take action as we work together to help users and their service providers to tackle mobile spam.”

Etisalat, UAE’s leading telecom operator, in partnership with  Vringo^TM, the next-generation ringtone pioneer, announced today the launch of its new Weyak-Vringo video ringtone service for customers.

By way of this major collaboration between both parties, Etisalat will be the first to launch a video ringtone platform in the Middle East while also rendering it to be the first carrier-led deployment of Vringo’s video and social ringtones in the Middle East.  By adopting Vringo’s scalable client-server architecture, Etisalat will give its customers the ability to browse and download mobile videos, set them as ringtones and, in a first for the mobile industry, share them with other Weyak Vringo users just by calling.

The Weyak-Vringo service is available to all Etisalat customers via a monthly subscription that delivers access to Vringo’s video ringtone application, its library of over 1000 video ringtones in more than one category such as comedy, animation, sports and premium local content for the Middle Eastern market from partners like Nojoom, Melody and more. For using this service, Etisalat customers also benefit from no additional data usage charge if they use Weyak as access point while downloading and using the service.

To subscribe to Vringo, customers should send “r Vringo” to 1010 and receive an SMS that will include a link to download the application for free using Weyak as the access point. Vringo subscription will cost customers AED 6 per month with one free video that will be preloaded and each new Video will cost AED 5.

Fuelled by their financial strength, and compelled by increasing competition and saturation of their home markets, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) telecom operators have launched unprecedented international expansion programmes since 2004. Going global, however, comes with a new set of challenges. The operators that most effectively address these challenges will be best posi­tioned to capture maximum value from their investments and earn a place among the world’s leading global operators, according to a new study by Booz & Company.

Crossing borders and breaking boundaries

Before 2004, all GCC incumbents combined were operating in only six markets outside their home countries. Today, this number stands at 78, with government policies in GCC countries stimulating this drive for corporate globalisation. As the profitability and financial strength of GCC operators have grown, so too has competition in their home mar­kets. This created a surge in globalisation, as operators sought growth through mergers and acquisitions. The disclosed value of GCC incumbents’ cross-border M&A activity between 2004 and 2009 exceeded US$33 billion.

Going global, however, comes with a new set of challenges. “The leaders of GCC operators can ensure successful global growth by ensuring that their companies are properly positioned, to capture the maximum value from their international investments,” said Karim Sabbagh, a partner at Booz & Company and global leader for the company’s communications, media and technology practice.

Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), the technology leader in Application Delivery Networking, announced that it continued to lead the worldwide content security gateway appliance market for the fourth calendar quarter of 2009, according to the most recent market share report released by Infonetics Research.  Blue Coat extended its market leadership for the 12^th consecutive quarter, the entire length of time Infonetics has tracked the content security market.

“Companies require a first line of defense at the Internet gateway that works in tandem with client software and a cloud-based collaborative community to provide on-demand security intelligence and continuously protect users from new Web-based threats,” said Nidal Taha, Regional Director for ME and Turkey, Blue Coat Systems. “The latest report from Infonetics reflects our continuing leadership in the market for appliance-based content security.”

According to Infonetics, the content security gateway appliance market is expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2010 to $2.1 billion in 2014.  During that same period, Infonetics projects that the Web/malware segment of the market will grow 37 percent, from $850 million to nearly $1.2 billion.

Proving yet again its place as a provider of unparalleled value and quality services, du has announced the launch of its new Business Super BlackBerry® plan – an innovative new business offering which includes BlackBerry® unlimited national service, as well as 300 international minutes per month, worth more than double the value. The new plan also offers special rates on latest BlackBerry® smartphones under a 12 months installment plan

“For todays increasingly on-the-go society, BlackBerry® has become an indispensible smartphone both for customers’ business needs and personal requirements. In order to meet the needs of our small and medium enterprise clients and corporate users, du has introduced the Business Super BlackBerry® plan, an ultra-affordable, unlimited national BlackBerry® service, which also offers 300 international minutes,” commented Farid Faraidooni, chief commercial officer, du.

In addition to the unlimited BlackBerry® service, the Business Super BlackBerry® Plan provides unparalleled flexibility, transparency, predictability and performance with exceptional benefits like the freedom to call anywhere in the world, anytime, for effectively AED 1 per minute, as part of an included international minutes bundle. These services include one rate on all incoming calls while roaming, the best BlackBerry® offer in the UAE, a 50 per cent discount on calls within a business and Pay by the Second® billing on all outgoing calls from the UAE.