Info2cell.com, the leading Mobile Application Service Provider in the Middle East, has partnered with Turner Broadcasting System Europe Limited to deliver news content from CNN to mobile subscribers of STC Al Jawwal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
With this partnership, subscribers can now receive CNN Breaking News alerts via SMS and MMS in English and Arabic on their mobile phones. A second service on offer is an online WAP portal delivering World News, Middle East News, Sports News and Entertainment News, as well as weather forecasts on mobile phones or Personal Digital Assistants.
Bashar Dahabra, Founder and CEO, Info2cell.com, said, “Our partnership with CNN, one of the world’s most respected and trusted sources of news and information reinforces our commitment to constantly deliver high quality valued-added services to our customers. As is the case in most other countries in the region, an increasing number of mobile subscribers in Saudi Arabia are using their mobile phones to stay abreast of latest news and events from around the globe. CNN comes as prestigious addition to our portfolio of quality content providers.”
“Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the region, with a rapidly increasing mobile customer base. A recent Madar Research study shows a remarkable 874 per cent increase in the number of mobile subscribers between the periods 2000 to 2005. Realising the potential of this market we recently opened a fully-equipped branch in Saudi Arabia to effectively cater to growing customer demands in the Kingdom,” he added.
Dima Boulos, Director, Affiliate Relations for Turner Broadcasting, said, "Turner is committed to extending the reach of our content distribution and we are delighted to have secured a deal with Info2cell that will expand the availability of our CNN mobile services. CNN viewers in Saudia Arabia will now be able to access a whole range of news and information on their mobiles."
Info2cell.com’s tie-up with CNN to provide this service is driven by its multi-million WASP platform that provides potential access to over 25 million mobile phone subscribers through an extensive direct connection to 27 mobile operators in the Middle East and Africa region. Based at Dubai Internet City, the WASP platform of Info2cell.com offers the most advanced mobile messaging technology to enable content providers to deliver messages and data to mobile phones, including SMS, MMS, WAP, IVR, video, ring-tones, picture messaging and Java games.
Mr. Dahabra was the chief architect and founder for the concept of a regional wireless portal service in the Middle East. Mr. Dahabra having observed and studied the convergence of the Internet and wireless technologies in the mid 90’s developed the info2cell concept in late 1998.
As the CEO, Mr. Dahabra was in charge of the overall Business Development, Systems Development and Financial strategies, dealing with the day to day operations of Info2cell. Mr. Dahabra sold Info2cell early in 2003 to Acotel having interconnected his company with 7 regional operators such as MTC-Kuwait, Fastlink-Jordan, MobiNil-Egypt, Batelco-Bahrain, Etisalat-UAE, Qtel-Qatar, Jawwal-Palestine and having over 250,000 registered mobile subscribers
Mr. Dahabra has 21 years of Systems Engineering, Management and Entrepreneurial experience, having worked for IBM for 10 years in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Jordan. Mr. Dahabra also worked as Director for Systems Development with FLAG for two years in NY, USA. Mr. Dahabra was the founder of a number of successful startups in Jordan, Bahrain and the region including Unitech - Jordan, Unisat - Jordan, First Telecommunication Group – Jordan, Magnet- Jordan and Gulf Soft - Bahrain.
Mr. Dahabra holds a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Engineering School at Edinburgh University in 1981 and is a member of a number of professional associations including IEEE, Jordan Computer Society, and Canadian Engineering Society.
Mr. Dahabra maybe contacted by email at [email protected] or phone +971 4 3912800 or fax +971 4 3912822
