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our operations on the African continentand in the Middle East.”Tito Alai, Chief Commercial OfficerZain Group said “One Network is nowavailable to more of our customersand makes it easier for them to communicatewith their family, friends andbusiness colleagues, making their lifebetter.”In September 2006 the internationallyrespected magazine, The Economist,said ‘Celtel has, in effect, created aunified market of the kind that regulatorscan only dream about in Europe.’Annoucing the arrival of WiMAX in Bahraintelecommunications market in theKingdom means that Zain’s pioneeringoperation in Bahrain has shifted frombeing a mobile services provider to anintegrated telecommunications operator.“Zain@home epitomises our focus onenriching the lives of our customers,”said Dr. Ahmed Al Shatti, ZainBahrain’s chief operating officer at aRamadan festive event. “Our successlies in interpreting technology so thatit impacts our customers in a way thatimproves their quality of life.” (seeWiMAX Lives on pages 84-86 for thefull range of Zain@home services)AFRICA ABOLISHES ROAMING ASZAIN’S ONE NETWORK EXPANDSNovember 2007, saw 400 million customersacross 12 countries connectedacross Africa in an area more than twicethe size of the European Union, whenZain subsidiary Celtel Internationalannounced the extension of ‘OneNetwork’, the world’s first borderlessmobile network in Africa to an additionalsix countries to include Burkina Faso,Chad, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan.These countries now join the Republic ofCongo, the Democratic Republic ofCongo, Gabon, Kenya, Tanzania andUganda in the network which was initiallylaunched in September 2006.The move now offers the possibility fornearly half of Africa’s population to makecalls at local rates across 12 countriesand since its launch more than 3 millionpeople have used the service.Celtel’s customers can now use bothprepaid and postpaid services in the12 countries and can top-up their prepaidphones with locally-bought airtimecards which can be bought at more than500,000 points of sale. The One Networkservice is automatically activated uponcrossing into any one of the other countries,with no prior registration requiredor sign up fee charged.“The innovation behind and the expansionof the world’s first borderless mobilephone network is a reflection of our dedicationto the African continent and itspeople.” said Zain Group CEO Dr SaadAl Barrak. “We have revolutionarisedtelecommunications in Africa and weintend to roll out this service to more ofDr Saad Al Barrak announcing the end of roaming charges in AfricaAFRICA WANTS MORE MIDDLE EASTINVESTMENTAfrican leaders met with Zain CEO DrSaad Al Barrak in November to discussopportunities in accelerating economicgrowth through the further developmentof mobile telecoms infrastructure.A recent research study by theLondon School of Economics showedthat an extra 10 mobile phones per100 people in a typical developingcountry leads to an additional 0.59percentage points of growth in GDPper person. Other research indicatedthat for every job created in themobile telecom sector, up to eightother jobs are created in different sectorsof the economy.Dr Al Barrak met HE President JakayaKikwete of Tanzania at State House inDar es Salaam before proceeding toUganda for the CommonwealthNEWS7 CHAOS SPRING 2008