The only integrated telecom service provider in the Kingdom, Orange Jordan recently announced its highly awaited 3G+ network. This network is the first of its kind in the entire Kingdom. Initially, this network will deliver services to some selected areas in Zarqa, Irbid and Amman. It will then gradually expand to reach the more populous areas of the Kingdom.

The Minister for ICT of Jordan, Marwan Juma, said that the introduction of this particular network is a huge milestone in the Jordanian telecom revolution. He mentioned that this would create more ICT prospects for the Kingdom.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors for JTC, Shabib Ammari,

etisalat, the famous telecom service provider from the UAE, has managed to stay in the top 5 companies in the Arabian Peninsula. This followed the tremendous success that it enjoyed last year by growing its capitalization in the market by an astonishing 35%. There were only three other companies listed above etisalat in the list of 500 companies. They were Saudi Telecommunications Company, Saudi Arabian petrochemicals company, Sabic and Al Rajhi Banking group.

etisalat is a company that is owned 40% by the Federal Government of UAE. Till the year 2008 it was 5th on the list. Last year it jumped to 4th place. The list revealed that etisalat had a net market capitalization of U.S $ 21.5 billion.

Bahraini telecom company, 2connect, was recently listed amongst the top three telecom companies in the middle-east. The so called next generation company was listed along with the other 2 major telecom companies, Zain Group and Oman’s Nawras. It will be competing for the first place with the 2 companies next month in the Arab Investment Summit in Abu Dhabi.

The MD and founder of 2connect, Fahad Al- Shirawi, stated that this was an honor; first for Bahrain and then for 2connect. He mentioned that he had the favorable environment in Bahrain to thank for all the progress he has made in only six years of operation.