Mobile Number Portability in UAE will be launched soon

Etisalat and du, the country's two telecom operators, are finalising and fine tuning their systems for launch of the mobile number portability service, which will take place soon, according to Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

“We have finalised the technical tests in cooperation with etisalat and du, where all parties including etisalat and du have conducted intensive testing of the service. They are currently finalising and fine tuning the systems,” a TRA spokesperson told 'Emirates24|7'.

“All the preparations for the start of the service are ongoing and the service will be launched soon.”

Although the exact date of the launch was not revealed, the spokesperson said there would be no further delays.

Asked if services providers will be open to fix the charges for the portability facility, the spokesperson said: “The TRA is required to approve all prices of both operators, for the vast majority of telecommunication services. We do not intervene in the setting of retail prices except in circumstances where we deem prices to be anticompetitive.”

In April, TRA said Mobile Number Portability will be launched in the third quarter in to allow for several performance and functionality enhancements to the number portability system. The service is expected to benefit the consumers as the two operators will compete to hold onto their customers.

Mohammad Nasser Al Ganem, TRA's Director-General, had said earlier: “It will stimulate competition between the two operators because operators will try to hold onto their customers."

According to TRA, the active mobile subscriptions as of June was 11,179,767, of which 1,284,539 are post paid and 9,895,228 are pre-paid users.

It was reported last week that etisalat and du had submitted applications to the TRA to reduce telecom tariff in the country. A joint committee consisting of TRA members and representatives from both the operators are currently discussing the issue extensively.

© Emirates24|7

Real Estate Projects cancelled in UAE up 13 percent since July 2011

Total value of cancelled projects in the UAE reached $170 billion, up 13 per cent since July, while the project pipeline rose seven per cent to $175 billion, according to a Citi report.

UAE accounts for 56 percent of the total cancelled and delayed projects for the main regional markets, the MENA construction projects tracker report by Citi showed. The cancellations are an increase of 13 percent since July.

“Unsurprisingly cancellations in the UAE relate predominantly to real estate,” the report said.
UAE’s property boom ended in 2008, with home prices in the Dubai emirate plunging by about 60 percent, forcing many developers to abandon projects.

Dubai developer Nakheel , which overstretched itself by building islands in the shape of palms and other ambitious projects, wrote off up to 78.6 billion dirhams ($21.4 billion) of its real estate assets due to a property crisis, according to a bond prospectus.

Meanwhile, projects cancelled and on hold across main MENA markets dropped slightly to $1.69 trillion in August from $1.7 trillion in July.

In other markets, Saudi Arabia added $81 billion of preliminary projects to its pipeline since July, said the report, highlighting the growth potential in the market.

Saudi Arabia, the largest construction market in Mena with $630 billion of projects planned and underway, recorded a project pipeline drop of nine per cent to $200bn.

However, Kuwait saw an increase of 38 per cent to $88bn on the basis of a redefinition of previously cancelled and delayed projects, while Qatar registered an increase of $7bn in its pipeline to $57bn.

The total project pipeline for the Mena market rose three per cent to $648 billion due to an uptick in oil and gas, gas processing and construction (non-real estate) projects.

Projects cancelled and on hold across the main Mena markets stood at $1.69 trillion compared to $1.7trn in July. 

Total value of cancelled projects increased by five per cent to $568bn, while delayed projects dropped 2.8 per cent to $1,128bn. 

The main sectors contributing to the increase in cancelled projects were construction (9.6 per cent to $251bn), power (5.7 per cent to $58bn) and infrastructure (3.6 per cent to $33bn).

The main declines in delayed projects came from refining (-59 per cent to $23bn), fertilisers (-52 per cent to $500m) and petrochemicals (-14 per cent to $21bn).

The report points out that $5.5bn worth of projects were awarded across Mena, translating to a year-on-year increase of 13.5 per cent.

© Emirates 24|7

UAE: Etisalat & Du is seeking TRA’s approval for lower Call rates and tariffs for data transfer

Call rates and tariffs for data transfer are likely to come down soon in the UAE as the two local telecom operators are jostling to arrest declining business.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has confirmed it has received applications from the two - etisalat and du – to reduce telecom tariff in the UAE, Arabic daily 'Al Khaleej' reported.

A joint committee consisting of TRA members and representatives from both the operators are currently discussing the issue extensively.

According to the report one of suggestions is to relate the tariffs to the kind of services availed by the consumer, which other words means a flexible tariff system.

The proposal, along with other pricing requests frequently received by TRA, is being discussed by the committee.

With a 90 per cent record of approval, it is likely that the new proposals to reduce call tariffs would get the Authority’s nod soon.

The proposals come following several recent surveys that indicated a demand for lower call rates, particularly for international calls.

The request also follows a general trend that makes telecom services cheaper worldwide, with prices for many services, especially Internet, lowered in the UAE as well.

The initiative also comes following a 26 per cent decline noticed in the revenue generated by etisalat from international calls made from mobile phones from 2008.

Recently, up to 30 fils per minute was reduced for calls to South Asian countries in an attempt to stem the decline, while roaming rates across the Gulf countries were unified and reduced up to 40 per cent.

© Emirates 24|7

Qatar is also in race for Olympic 2020 bid

The International Olympic Committee will decide today whether to allow Qatar to bid to stage the 2020 Olympics in autumn rather than in the traditional summer window.

Qatar has confirmed that it will join the race to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was open to the idea of the event being held outside the traditional July-August window.

The Qatari announcement came less than nine months after being awarded football's showpiece on an emotionally-charged December evening in Zurich.

The IOC will not consider staging the Games in Qatar in the traditional July-August slot because of searing summer temperatures, in stark contrast with Fifa which awarded the emirate the 2022 World Cup.

If the IOC does give the green light a Doha bid should not be underestimated. The city outscored Rio in the initial IOC technical evaluation stage for 2016 and the World Cup bid proves that cash is a valuable asset when it comes to promoting a bid.

According to the official, Doha has the needed experience to host international sporting competitions."

The deadline for submitting a bid for the 2020 Olympics is next Thursday and the host city will be announced at the IOC session in September 2013.

Rome, Madrid, Istanbul and Tokyo have all declared their intention to host the Games. If successful in the new bid, Doha will become the first Muslim city to host the world's largest multi-sport event.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) an alternative fuel for cars in the UAE

A unique model of pipe less natural gas fuel stations will be introduced in Dubai as part of its plans to implement a cost-effective and environment-friendly natural gas transportation solutions. Government vehicles will first switch to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), followed by private cars in the emirate to reduce carbon emission and cut fuel costs, officials revealed on Tuesday after the Dubai Municipality (DM) unveiled its pilot project of converting five of its vehicles to use natural gas.

Motorists in Dubai will be able to choose from 15 stations to fill up their converted cars with compressed natural gas — an environmentally friendly alternative to petrol or diesel — in the next five years, bringing down their carbon footprint at the same time.

A comparison between two Nissan Altima cars powered with equal quantities of fuel found that the car on petrol produced 138kg of Co2 over 420km compared to the car running on CNG which travelled 105km and produced 107kg of CO2.

"That 31kg of CO2 makes tremendous savings over the year, 136797.8 metric tons of CO2 would be saved annually," said RTA Official.

Several car manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes, Volvo or Fiat all produce clean gas vehicles, added Khan, however it all depends on the dealerships in the UAE whether or not those specific cars will be imported here to give buyers a choice.

The public can have great economic benefits out of it as CNG is more than 30 per cent cheaper than petrol. If somebody converts his car, he can get back the money he spent for it in less than a year, according to RTA official.

The Roads and Transport Authority has introduced a fleet of CNG-powered abras and hybrid taxis.  The government’s plan is to convert at least 25 per cent of the public transport vehicles to use natural gas. Once the government departments lead the way and spread awareness, the project will target private vehicles. “The daughter depots can also act as filling stations for private vehicles. It takes hardly Dh6,000 to Dh7,000 for converting a normal vehicle to use CNG.

Last month, Abu Dhabi announced plans to convert over 500 government vehicles and taxis to natural gas by the end of 2012.  Emirates Transport, the UAE Federal government corporation, has three conversion centres across Abu Dhabi, in which some 18 to 22 vehicles are converted to CNG mode per day (at all three centres). Abu Dhabi Island’s Khalifa City (A) Conversion Centre is the biggest in the UAE and has 12 vehicle conversion bays, while the second centre is in Manaseer in the Capital and the third in Zakheer area in Al Ain.

Besides these, two more centres are operated,  by C.G. Tech (Compressed Gas Technology) — one in the Mushrif area in the Capital and the other at Al Dhafra in Musaffah on Tarif Road.

Conversion cost & Safety

The total cost of conversion per vehicle from gasoline to CNG is Dh7,400 for 4-cylinder vehicle, Dh8,000 for 6-cylinder and Dh9,400 for 8-cylinder vehicles, Mahir Al Sayed Al Rafaee, manager for CNG Centre, said.

After the conversion of a vehicle, a TUV (Third Party Inspector) inspects it and does the Gas System Installation Test and examines the safety of the system.  After everything is cleared, the inspector issues the certificate for each vehicle confirming that the vehicle is safe to run on the road, Al Rafaee said.

The converted vehicles are safer as all components used are as per the ECER110/115 (an international code for conversion) and the cylinders have passed the bonfire test (gas cylinder) and penetration test to maintain the high safety level, Al Jerman said.

CNG cost is Dh1.32 per cubic metre while the tank of a 4-cylinder vehicle gets full in Dh50-60, whereas Gasoline (special) costs Dh1.72 per litre.

© Khaleej Times