61,000 Mobile Users Want A Different Network Operator

The mobile number portability (MNP) service was launched in December 2013 in UAE. Well, what is surprising is that around 61,000 mobile subscribers in the country have requested to switch their operators. This service was launched last year with a motive of boosting competition in UAE’s state controlled telecom sector.          

The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority has confirmed that around 23,000 numbers have been ported out and the remaining numbers were resubmitted to obtain the necessary documents to switch over.  

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, director general of the TRA said, “The significant number of porting requests received reflects the real interest of UAE consumers in the MNP service.” He further stated that, “This move will enhance the quality of services offered to consumers and in turn, drive levels of performance upwards.”

Basically, the TRA is responsible for making sure that all the necessary documents are provided and submitted throughout the entire transition, as it oversees the switchover process.  It is supposed to monitor the service mechanisms. 

Well, the Emirates’ telecom regulatory authority said that a lot of complaints had been received about a delay in this process. However, these complaints from the subscribers were resolved through co-operation with customers and licensees. 

The TRA has urged the subscribers to be aware of their roles and responsibilities which have been mentioned in the contract signed with the telco. All this is to be done before submitting requests for MNP.

The telecom regulator issued a statement which said “Subscribers must review their existing contracts and particularly those who have signed contracts for a limited period of time where typically, termination fees result from ending a contract prematurely.”
It also has stated that the subscribers have the right to return to their original operator within the 1st three days of the number transfer. 

A survey conducted by AMRB suggested that around 56 per cent of DU subscribers wanted to switch to Etisalat for better network coverage. On the other hand, around 47 per cent of Etisalat users wanted to switch to other networks for better packages and prices for calls.

Facebook Owned Whatsapp Faces Server Issues

As Facebook newly acquired Whatsapp, the messaging giant faced a temporary outage for about 210 minutes. This server problem was reported by thousands of users all around the world. Whatsapp acknowledged this problem as well via twitter, with a tweet that said “sorry we currently experiencing server issues. We hope to be back up and recovered shortly.” 

As the messaging giant sprang back to life, users complained that the “last seen” stamps were no more visible to them. However, now the issue has been resolved and they are appearing again. 

About the same time that the tweet came up, Jan Koum, CEO of Whatsapp, apparently mailed the Wall Street Journal which said “we had a server outage, should be OK now.”

The users of this messaging service were all over twitter asking if Whatsapp was down. Also, many came up with hilarious memes which joked about Zuckerberg was meddling with the application after buying it.

However, this might have happened because of the Facebook’s recent $19 billion acquisition of Whatsapp; there could be a surge of sign ups on the application, resulting in server issues.

Facebook Buys Whatsapp for $16 Billion

As per a filing on Wednesday, Facebook is all set to acquire Whatsapp, the much popular messaging application for a whopping sum of $16 billion in cash and stock. 

After the rumors of Google also being interested in buying this messaging app in 2013, turns out that this is Facebook’s largest acquisition till date. As per the filing, the social media giant has agreed to pay $12 billion in stock and $4 billion in cash for the company. But that’s not all; it has also agreed to pay $3 billion more in restricted stock units to WhatsApp's founders and employees as part of the deal. So, this brings the deal total to a total of about $19 billion.

The messaging giant, founded in 2009 by former Yahoo engineers Jan Koum and Brian Acton, went on to become so popular that some were of the opinion that it could pose a threat to Facebook’s business. The app has replaced the age old SMS for many users by allowing free messaging across smartphone platforms. It has more than 450 million people who are using the app daily. 

Mark Zuckerberg, the cofounder and CEO of Facebook said, “WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable.” He further added, “I've known Jan for a long time and I'm excited to partner with him and his team to make the world more open and connected.” 

What followed the announcement was an investor call in which Zuckerberg added, “The growth rate they have today and the monetization that's early but promising and in place, we see a clear trajectory ahead and are excited to work together on this."

As opposed to Facebook, Whatsapp does not earn through ads. What it instead does is offers free services for the first year and later charges $0.99 per year for subscription after that. The founders of this messaging giant have established that they do not want to introduce advertising. However, this was re-iterated by Koum and Zuckerberg on the call. 

"We think that for our product, advertising is not necessarily the right way to go," Koum said. "We think we have a very solid monetization system in place."

Facebook will pay a breakup fee of $1 billion to Whatsapp, if the deal does not work out, which is, incidentally, still more than the total amount of money Facebook paid to acquire Instagram. The stock of the social media pioneer faced decline by more than 4.5% after the announcement was made.

With more than 450 million users, Whatsapp is certainly larger than companies like Snapchat and even other social networks like Twitter or LinkedIn. Facebook was rumoured to offer Snapchat as much as $3 billion for acquiring it, in order to make a big acquisition in the messaging space.

With the deal finalized last weekend, Koum will be on the board of directors of Facebook as a part of the acquisition. As opposed to the way Instagram was handled, Whatsapp will operate independently.

The deal is approved by both the parties and is subject to regulatory approval now. In the later part of this year, Facebook expects to close this deal.

A Bleak Estimate Of Q1 2014 Has Got HTC To Focus On Low-Priced Phones

 

As we look at the Q4 reports that HTC released in 2013, the figures are not that great. Moreover, the company does not expect a lot of growth in the Q1 of 2014.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker showcased a revenue of NT$42. 9 billion, i.e. $1.4 billion USD approx. Well, it is a whopping 28% decline from its Q4 of 2012 in which the company posted a revenue of NT$60 million i.e.  about $2 billion USD. The Taipei based mobile maker had net profit of a meager NT$0. 31 billion (about $10 billion) for the quarter. The company’s gross margin was 17.8%. However, its operating margin was negative 3.7%.
The company is expecting more decline in the Q1 of 2014 somewhere between NT$34 billion ($1.12 billion) and NT$36 billion ($1.18 billion). This is their third consecutive quarter when HTC is facing losses.
The company is known for its Android smartphones. It added a variety of new phones to its mid range Desire segment and a champagne gold edition of HTC One in select markets.
It seems that the company is reworking on its strategies so as to recover from the losses spread over a year of declining revenue, supply chain issues and departure of quite a few important executives.  According to what CEO Cher Wang has informed, HTC will be selling more products priced between $150 to $300. This will also include a new flagship phone. This phone is expected to compete with other companies like Xiaomi and Samsung.