ABU DHABI, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) launched a new high-speed mobile broadband network in the United Arab Emirates as the former monopoly bets on data traffic to lift sagging profits.

Etisalat will initially provide the service, based on long-term evolution (LTE) technology and sometimes called 4G, in 70 percent of the UAE’s urban areas, chief marketing officer Matthew Willsher told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

LTE allows for data transfer speeds of more than double that of older mobile networks.

“Across the world . voice yields and revenues per minute are declining, whether it’s on a national or international (call) basis,” said Willsher. “Mobile data is a huge opportunity for growing revenue. Data is starting to reach exponential growth, we are growing at approximately double a year.”

Etisalat has spent 6 billion dirhams ($1.63 billion) on its local LTE and fibre optic networks and on Wednesday revamped its mobile data tariffs to help boost demand.

Yet telecoms operators are also dependent on handset manufacturers to drive data growth, with Etisalat’s LTE offering initially only available via USB dongles.

“Over the next six months we’ll start to see tablets and handsets arrive with LTE,” said Willsher.

DUBAI, Sept 20 (Reuters) – An infrastructure sharing agreement allowing rival UAE telecoms operators to compete in home services will not include television, a move which could deter consumers from switching providers, du’s chief executive said on Tuesday.

Both du and Etisalat already offer fixed-line, broadband and television services in the UAE, but not in the same districts and an agreement between the pair to allow open competition has been years in the making.

Du CEO Osman Sultan said he expected this would be completed by the end of 2011, but warned it would include only broadband and voice. IPTV – television via the same fibre optic cables that provide fixed broadband – would not be part of the initial agreement because the two operators’ networks are not yet compatible.

“TV will come at a later stage,” said Sultan, refusing to predict when IPTV would be included in infrastructure sharing.

He admitted this would make it harder to persuade customers to switch providers.

“Probably we don’t want to see this situation lasting long – TV is very important,” Sultan told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

Analysts question whether customers will want separate broadband and TV providers.

DUBAI, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Zain Saudi has launched next-generation mobile network services in Saudi Arabia, the third telecoms operator to do so this week as surging demand for smartphones spurs a technology race to win data-hungry customers.

Zain Saudi launched long-term evolution (LTE), or 4G – which offers download speeds more than twice that of 3G — in Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh, with other major cities to follow by the end of 2012, partnering with Chinese group Huawei .

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Saudi Telecom have also announced phased roll-outs of their LTE networks in Saudi Arabia, the first Middle East country to commercially launch the new technology.

This push comes as subscriber growth and voice revenues stagnate. The kingdom’s mobile penetration is the third highest globally at 188 percent, or nearly two phones for every resident.

“The mobile side is pretty much saturated, so operators are trying to convert pay-as-you go customers to contracts, tying customers into one or two commitments and bundling voice and data packages together,” said Asim Bukhtiar, Riyad Capital head of research.

Operators are also trying to cash in on demand for smartphones. About 3.5 million handsets were shipped to the Middle East in the first-quarter of 2011, up 45 percent year-on-year, according to Canalys.

That uptake is adding to spiraling demand for mobile data.

DUBAI, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Increased liquidity in the banking system and tightening debt spreads could spark the UAE’s moribund equity markets into life and early investors can pick up stocks on the cheap, the chief executive of Dubai’s Daman Investments said on Tuesday.

Many investors have given up on UAE markets — trading volumes are poised to slump to a seven-year low in 2011, while Dubai’s index is down 77 percent from a 2008 peak. Abu Dhabi’s measure has lost 50 percent.

“UAE equities today look lethargic. It’s not a pretty picture,” Shehab Gargash, Daman Investments CEO told reporters. “UAE markets have been very badly battered — there’s not much downward space left.”

Gargash says the UAE’s economic foundations are strong enough for equities to revive, with bank deposits and loan growth up 11.5 percent and 2.6 percent respectively in the 12 months to July, although banks are still cautious about lending.

“Banks, whether they like it or not, they have to get active again … (they) will push that liquidity into the system and part of that will go into the equities market,” said Gargash.

“We’re looking at the market generating a cash yield of about 4 percent and in a rising market a big chunk of that will go back into the market itself – it’s all about starting a virtuous circle.

“This will be by no means immediate and will take time. People are asleep as far as equity markets are concerned and the quick risers will be able to catch the better values.”

DUBAI (Reuters) – Argentina great Diego Maradona reckons son-in-law Sergio Aguero is playing for the perfect club after his compatriot’s stunning start at English Premier League outfit Manchester City.

Aguero, 23, scored a hat-trick in the 3-0 defeat of Wigan Athletic on Saturday to take his tally to six goals in four games, having joined City from Atletico Madrid in July for an estimated 45 million euros ($61.7 million).

“I said Aguero needed a team that would support him, so that Aguero can play in the Champions League, can play in very important championships,” Maradona told a news conference in Dubai on Sunday ahead of his first competitive game in charge of the city’s Al Wasl F.C.

“It was not the case with Atletico Madrid. People from Atletico Madrid said I was a fool. I told them that foolish person wasn’t me, because Aguero is now playing for a team — Manchester City — that will fight for everything. Now Aguero is playing in a place that he deserves.”

City have won all four league games this season and are second only to local rivals Manchester United on goal difference.

Maradona, who managed his nation at last year’s World Cup, also found time to slam the Argentina Football Association.

“Football there is like a museum — the youngest person is 95 years old,” he said. “Stay at home with your grandchildren and allow young people to manage Argentinean football.”

DUBAI, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Middle East equity markets are braced for another rocky week, with volatile global exchanges likely to dictate direction in the absence of compelling local factors to distract investors from negative news about the world economy.

The focus on the global economy means a declining pool of active traders is not discriminating much between the fundamental factors behind individual Middle East stocks. Instead, it is trying to ride the ebbs and flows of global sentiment to make a quick profit on the most liquid names.

Long-term investors and funds remain largely inactive, so markets are listless and will lack direction until a clearer picture emerges of the chances of a U.S. recession and the ultimate consequences of the euro zone debt crisis.

“People are sitting on the sidelines and don’t want to make a serious commitment because uncertainty and volatility are very high,” said Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co in Bahrain.

Regional markets moved little over the summer months and so recent declines have been less savage than those experienced internationally. But 2011 has been tough for investors and brokers alike.

Volumes in Kuwait have fallen by more than half, while this year’s turnover on the United Arab Emirates bourse seems poised to fall further from a six-year trough in 2010.

All regional bourses are in the red for 2011, with Egypt the biggest loser, falling by more than a third. Qatar has proved the most robust, dipping only about 4 percent; it has been helped by double-digit economic growth projections for Qatar.

DUBAI, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Bahrain Telecommunications is still weeks away from completing a $950 million deal to buy a quarter-stake in telecoms operator Zain Saudi , the joint bidder has told Reuters.

Kuwaiti group Zain in March agreed to sell its 25-percent stake in Zain Saudi to Batelco and Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding .

In July, Batelco estimated the deal would be completed within eight weeks.

“Due diligence is a work in progress,” Batelco chief executive Peter Kaliaropoulos said.

“It is fair to say the deal will be completed in the coming weeks. Whether it is two or three weeks or six or seven weeks, that is not the issue. The issue is to ensure any matters that arise are resolved in an amicable way.”

Kaliaropoulos will be replaced as CEO from Oct. 1, becoming CEO of strategic assignments.

The stake buyers, who will get management control, have yet to say how they will fund the deal. Batelco’s cash balance is $231 million, according to its second-quarter statement.

DUBAI, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Most Middle East markets rose on Tuesday as a positive opening on European bourses eased investors’ fears following sharp declines in world stocks a day earlier.

Dubai’s Emirates NBD rose 1.4 percent, helping the index end higher for a first session in three, but gains were minor and UAE markets were likely to remain in the doldrums due to a lack of local catalysts to shift investors’ focus away from the turmoil on global bourses.

“The main theme is the very low levels of activity, which will continue until we get a clearer picture elsewhere and maybe some positive news about the UAE,” said Julian Bruce, EFG-Hermes director of institutional equity sales.

“There is some select buying, but no one is in any real hurry, with no big clips of money going to work – the whole market is on the back burner.”

Kuwait also rose, climbing 0.1 percent, even though none of the six largest shares made gains, with trading concentrated in small cap stocks. These are the preserve of retail investors, indicating funds were largely absent.

“We think third-quarter profits will be lower than Q2 and don’t foresee any boom in the market in the near future,” said Naser al-Nafisi from Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy.

Many Kuwait firms rely mainly on income from market trading and some may be forced to delist for failing to meet tougher new rules, said a Kuwait trader who asked not to be named.

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – UAE telecoms carrier du on Wednesday said its second-quarter net profit rose 51 percent, beating analysts’ expectations, as customers increased spending and it gained more market share from former monopoly Etisilat.

The operator, which ended Etisalat’s domestic monopoly in 2007, reported a second-quarter net profit of 207.2 million dirhams ($56.4 million) after provisioning to pay 50 percent of its profit in royalties in 2011. This net figure is up from 137.4 million dirhams in the year-earlier period.

Four analysts polled by Reuters forecast du would make a quarterly profit of between 188 million and 235 million dirhams.

“These look like a good set of results — revenues, EBIDTA, customer share and free cash flow continue along a good trajectory,” said Martin Mabbutt, Nomura telecoms analyst.

“Du is addressing a market that is not very competitive - Etisalat has traditionally earned a very high return, with margins of more than 60 percent, so it’s quite an easy target.”

Etisalat’s second-quarter profit fell 14.9 percent, its second straight quarterly decline.

Du’s second-quarter mobile revenue rose 32 percent to 1.66 billion dirhams, with the Dubai-based carrier now claiming 44 percent of the UAE’s mobile subscriptions, up from 41.6 percent in the first-quarter.

* Three telcos must IPO by August-end, but reluctant to list

* Low liquidity, small mkt cap seen hurting valuations

* Penalty a smaller price to pay than poor IPOs

By Matt Smith

DUBAI, July 20(Reuters) – It was meant to symbolise the triumph of capitalism in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

But the stock market flotation of three Iraqi telecoms firms, required by law to go public by the end of August, is stuck, with the operators holding out for better market conditions and higher valuations.

As a result, all three are likely to miss the deadline in a move unwelcome to the Baghdad bourse and the telecom regulator.     Zain Iraq, part of Kuwait’s Zain , Qatar Telecom’s Asiacell and France Telecom affiliate Korek have dragged their feet on selling 25 percent stakes and listing on the Iraq Stock Exchange.