The punctual handover of the Manama based project coincides with the companies 2nd year anniversary in Dubai and Managing Director Daniel Waller was able to celebrate this by signing off on one of their biggest Middle East projects to date, saying. “I can’t help but feel exceptionally proud on the completion of the Zain HQ project, Bahrain. It is one of the biggest and most complicated projects undertaken by Four Graphics, the team and technology we put together specifically for the project ensured it went smoothly and on schedule.”
 
The completion of the Zain project was a logistical success too as staff and material from their London offices were flown in to ensure the job was executed to the highest standards possible. Using Dubai as a base, project managers and installers collaboratively put the pieces together until the 23rd October when the last sections of wallpaper were pasted into position.
 
The success of the project was thanks to a cohesive collaboration with Future Brand, the chosen branding agency for Zain, who are based in London. Future Brand and Four Graphics already held an effective working relationship and the Dubai branch opening proved to be a tactical and logistical advantage as Future Brand secured the Zain branding deal. Four Graphics were able to offer full scope of works through design to completion for the graphics package. Design briefs and instructions were communicated between the two companies in London and ultimately passed on to Four Graphic’s Dubai based team of project managers once the green light was given to commence work.
 
British owned Four Graphics expanded their print and install operations in October 2007 by introducing Four Graphics Middle East to the regional marketplace. They now run a full-scale printing facility in Dubai, specialising in retail and interior installs. Four Graphics Middle East harnessed their digital print to wallpaper technology to give the Zain premises a creative injection of contemporary colour. The project was finished in early October and utilized the full range of Four Graphic’s expertise, from actual production to project management. As a fully in-house venture, 80% of the printable material was produced in their Dubai-based production warehouse with the remaining 20% coming from their London headquarters. Their notable reputation in the digital wallpaper sector has opened doors to a wider reaching client base as interest develops for further projects in Tanzania, Nigeria and Italy.
 
Four Graphics and Four Graphics Middle East are now very keen to further expand their scope of work around the globe, as well as developing their core business in the UAE, Dan Waller adding. “I now very much look forward to similar projects in the Middle East and Africa and the challenges they may bring, we hope to continue to show the graphics industry back in the UK that it is possible to achieve  very high quality work along with the financial rewards that go with”.Their Dubai-based production warehouse emulates their London facilities which will serve to further realise their main objective of offering British standard print projects here in Dubai.
 


 

Zain, the leading mobile operator in 22 countries across the Middle East and Africa announces the launch of commercial services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, commencing August 26, 2008.

With the launch, the Kingdom joins and connects to ‘One Network’, the Group’s renowned, and the world’s first, borderless mobile service offering over 45 million Zain customers in 16 countries favourable rates, free of high roaming charges for cross-border communications.

At launch date, Zain’s coverage area will cover 95% of the Kingdom’s population with its state-of-the-art mobile network which will initially cover 53% of the population in 36 major cities and 14 highways spanning over 4,000 kms.

The remaining coverage area will be attained initially through a complimentary countrywide roaming service.

Zain will introduce high-speed 3.5G broadband technology to approximately half of the Saudi population offering the latest 3.5G services that include television, video-calling, rich multimedia content and even faster internet access.

Zain’s network will be further expanded in stages to eventually cover the entire Kingdom.

On this momentous occasion, Zain Group CEO Dr Saad Al Barrak said: ‘We are delighted to have launched services in the economic powerhouse of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and we intend to fulfil our promise to offer the community world-class telecom services. The experience and resourcefulness of all 22 Zain operations are all committed to supporting the Saudi operation. Coupled with the impressive economic growth that the Kingdom is experiencing, we are confident that all our stakeholders in the Kingdom and beyond will reap excellent rewards in future years.’

Dr. Al Barrak also commented on the role One Network would be playing on wooing new customers.

‘We believe that being connected to such a valuable service will be one of many factors that will attract Saudi customers to Zain,’ he declared.

‘The attractiveness of and continual expansion of the ‘One Network’ will play a key role in Zain attaining its year 2011 targets of attaining 150 million customers and being a top-ten global mobile operator’

Enabling cross-border communications at favourable rates free of high roaming charges, ‘One Network’ provides loved ones the opportunity to stay connected as well as stimulating trade and enriching livelihoods, both economically and socially.

Customer focused
Dr. Marwan Alahmadi, CEO of Zain in Saudi Arabia commented, ‘from day one and onwards, our focus is to provide the Saudi community the best services and value for money that mobile technology has to offer.

With the benefit of drawing on Zain’s rich experience in serving customers in 22 countries, we will ensure that our customers receive quality service in all aspects.

We do understand community needs and will strive to fulfil them and this introductory offer is the first of many new things to come’.

With a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility, to date Zain in Saudi Arabia has made considerable financial contributions to various charitable organizations such as the King Abdul Aziz University, the BMG Foundation as well as sponsoring the Kingdom’s national football teams.

Zain in Saudi Arabia has committed investments of over $1.5bn in the development of the network. Recently the operation undertook a long testing phase with 9,000 mobile users that proved invaluable.

‘It gave our technical staff and customer care personnel the sufficient understanding and experience to improve and finesse many of the services that makeup our world-class network. We have invested heavily and we are now ready for the challenges ahead, confident of success. We are targeting equal market share along with the two existing operators in the years ahead’, commented Dr Alahmadi.

From July 26, 2008 Zain offered people the opportunity to reserve a special number, with tens of thousands registering their request.

On launch date, the operation will have 160 official Zain outlets, over 3,000 authorized distribution points of sales and the operation estimates that over 40,000 independent businesses will act as resellers of recharge cards.

The operation currently has a 2100 strong workforce.

Zain Saudi Arabia is a publically listed company on the Saudi Stock Exchange ‘Tadawul’, first trading on 22 March 2008 with a share price of 24.25 Saudi Riyals (approx $6.45) on 24 August 2008 representing a 142.5% premium on the par value of the share of 10 Saudi Riyals.

The Zain Group is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange with a current market value exceeding $27.5bn (as at 24 August, 2008).

Jinny Software has today announced the successful trial of a powerful advertising solution that will underpin new revenue streams for Zain in Jordan in 2008, and beyond.

Installed and tested in a matter of weeks, the solution quickly provided the capability to deliver advertisements over SMS messaging from any advertiser or agency.

This solution gives Zain in Jordan the ability to take an early and strong position in an industry that is expected to earn US$18 billion by 201.

Built on Jinny's proven technologies in messaging and filtering, the Advertising Engine has the power to deliver tailored advertising in a variety of ways.

Whether an advertisement should be inserted into peer-to-peer messaging traffic or as a pre-page video clip, the Advertising Engine - thanks to sophisticated keyword and profile matching - can ensure the advert is relevant and useful to its audience, the consumer.

Built to deliver tailored, targeted advertising that consumers want, as opposed to spam, the Advertising Engine is poised to meet the growth and ARPU-increase needs of operators this year and into the future.

Speaking about the successful trial, Zain in Jordan's Mobile Data Services Senior Manager Ziad Al Masri, said, 'We have been delighted with the results that Jinny's Advertising Engine has delivered during these trials. They have highlighted the potential gains Zain in Jordan will benefit from as a result of implementing this solution on our network, as well as the benefits that our subscribers will derive from this sophisticated new service.'

Commenting on the ground-breaking trial, Max Wilkie, CEO of Jinny Software, said, 'We are once again delighted to be able to deliver a world-class solution to the Zain Group. With the Advertising Engine from Jinny, Zain in Jordan is now able to exploit the expanding business of mobile advertising and take advantage of new and sustainable revenue streams. There is no doubt that both Zain in Jordan and Jinny can build on this success to explore other media and messaging solutions to offer an increasingly powerful channel to advertisers.'

From today Fastlink has a new name - Zain (www.zain.com) - as its parent company MTC Group, the leading mobile telecommunications provider in 21 countries across the Middle East and Africa, adopts the new corporate master brand with immediate effect. Fastlink is one of the first operations to re-brand together with operations in Kuwait and Bahrain, (formerly MTC-Vodafone) and Sudan (formerly Mobitel). All of the Group's operations will be fully re-branded as Zain in due course. The new brand will have no impact on Fastlink's current pre and post-paid products and services in Jordan, and customers are not required to re-set handsets or other mobile devices. Customers travelling to Kuwait, Bahrain and Sudan should select the Zain network when offered, although some handsets may still show the MTC network name which will continue to function. 'Even before we joined the MTC Group in 2003 in what was then the largest acquisition in Middle Eastern history, Fastlink was widely regarded as a pillar of the Jordanian economy, providing careers, education and training to a large number of our citizens,' said Saad Nasir, CEO for Zain in Jordan. 'Today we are the service provider of choice for more than two million customers and, following the re-branding, the Zain family in Jordan will now join an extended community of 32 million giving us even greater opportunity to work together to build a better future for all,' continued Nasir. 'Throughout our transformation, we will continue to provide the best possible service for our customers. We are, and always have been, a community-focused company and we will continue to invest in social outreach programs which made Fastlink a role model for corporations in Jordan.' In four years the Group has grown to become a leader in the telecoms sector with seven brands operating in 21 markets and serving more than 32 million customers. The new brand will help harness that growth by passing on the benefits of the depth and breadth of products and services available across all of its operating companies. 'Now is the time to launch a single, unified identity that will propel us towards our goal of becoming one of the world's top ten telecommunications companies during the next four years. We are extremely excited to join the Zain family and to becoming one of the most recognised global Arab brands,' said Nasir. Zain chief executive officer Dr. Saad Al Barrak said: 'The new identity will have a positive impact for customers as they come to experience and enjoy the same quality of service, reliability and standards of excellence wherever they live, work or travel in the Middle East, Africa or globally as we continue to expand our boundaries of operation.' Customers will benefit through synergies of the common products and services that are currently offered and of those that will be developed in the future. For example, Zain Group operations in six African countries have already created One Network, the world's first borderless mobile network. Covering 160 million people or approximately 20% of Africa's population, One Network gives all post paid and prepaid customers the opportunity to move freely across geographical borders in these six countries without roaming call surcharges and without having to pay for incoming calls. Customers also receive the same services that they enjoy in their home country; such as airtime credit transfer for prepaid customers. The One Network service is automatically activated upon crossing the geographic border into one of the six countries, with no prior registration required or sign-up fee charged. 'In a region that is historically dependant on freedom of movement across borders, this service fits the needs of our customers perfectly, breaking down barriers and making life better for business, families and individuals,' said Dr. Barrak. The Zain brand and its new theme - A Wonderful World - capture the energy, inspiration and diversity of the Group's customers, employees and other stakeholders. The new logo and its colourful identity reflect the Group's freshness, boldness and vitality with the 'swirl' communicating the idea of an aura, something important to human life echoing growth, progression and diversity. Zain was chosen for its simplicity, memorability and ease of pronunciation across the global marketplace and, as an added bonus, Zain was found to be rich in positive connotations. For example, in Arabic, Zain means 'beautiful, good and wonderful', in Latin it means 'dark horse' and it has many positive meanings in other cultures found in Africa, Asia, Europe and beyond. It tested extremely well among cross sections of the potential global audience. With a current market capitalization exceeding US$ 30 billion the Group shares will continue to be publicly traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) and the Group's stock ticker code 'TELE' will change to 'ZAIN' with immediate effect. In July 2007, the group was awarded the third mobile licence in Saudi Arabia and expects to start operations in the Kingdom as Zain in early 2008. This will make Zain the fourth largest mobile operator in the world in terms of geographic footprint. Recently, Zain's operation in Iraq, mtc atheer, was successful in its bid for a 15 year nationwide licence and will re-brand to Zain soon. In early September 2007 the Group won three prestigious industry awards including Overall Operator of the Year among both fixed line and mobile service operators at the second annual CommsMEA telecom awards for the Middle East and Africa. It also won New Telecoms Service of the Year for One Network and Dr. Saad Al Barrak was also honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award for his pioneering efforts in the industry.