Foosteps oof ddiscovery: An African odyssey + Spice uup yyour llife:Kuwaiti culinary treasures + Darling DDiva: Dania tells all +MTC oon tthe mmove + Yoga: food for the soul

BY DDESIGN An MTC Magazine

Spring 2007

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Letter from the CEO Welcome to Chaos by Design, the magazine that we hope will suc-cessfully reflect MTC’s core values and the spirit of the countries inwhich we operate. This first issue is very special in that it comes at avery exciting time for the global mobile telecom sector and MTC in par-ticular. In the past four years, MTC has grown from a one country oper-ation in Kuwait with 600,000 customers to over 29.6 million customersin 20 countries (soon to be 21 with the addition of the Kingdom ofSaudi Arabia where we recently secured the third mobile license). Thisstunning growth reflects our commitment to bringing fast and efficientcommunication, delighting more and more people every day, a com-mitment underscored by the launch earlier this year of ACE, our excit-ing new implementation strategy.

But MTC is not just a business. It’s not just about the bottom line. MTCoperates by a set of values that drive our corporate performance andunderscore how we conduct ourselves. They include sense of belong-ing, the feeling of kinship, the gift of humanity, the notion of courage,the power of taking heart, the need for support and the importance ofrelationships. All these make MTC what it is.

The ideas, themes and people in this first issue reflect all these valuesin their own way. Taking just a few examples, there is the courage ofNigerian footballer Kanu, who overcame serious illness to illuminate theworld’s sporting stage and the limitless energy of Bahrain’s SheikhaHaya Rashed al Khalifa, who has selflessly campaigned for women’srights in the Arab world. We have the tireless and brave Mo Ibrahim,for whom personal success meant giving back to his beloved Africa,and the perseverance of those who strive to exceed the boundaries ofhuman endurance and curiosity, typified by diver Christian Francis andphotographer Norbert Schiller.

These stories will inform, entertain and inspire, and in doing so, reflectthe seam of excellence that runs through MTC’s company creed, itsemployees and all those touched by its achievements. Happy reading!

Dr. Saad Al Barrak

Table of contents Issue No.1 / Spring 2007

Contributors: Nicholas Blanford, Paul Cochrane,Nicholas Noe, Anissa Rafeh, Anne Renahan,Thomas Schellen, Norbert Schiller, PeterSpeetjens, Faerlie Wilson, Angela WintlendPhotography: Christian Francis private collection, Ghada Ghosn private collection,Norbert Schiller private collection, Desert DoorProductions, FocusMideast, Getty Images, Nabil RamadanEditing: EditMax

Color Separation and Printing: Raidy PrintingGroup S.A.L.

Produced by MTC Group Communication andInvestor Relations Department in collaborationwith Vinehouse Media

P.O. Box 22244 Safat, 13083 KuwaitTel.: +965 484 2000 - Fax: +965 483 7755www.mtctelecom.com - info@mtctelecom.com

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Letter from the CEO

MTC NEWSA glowing year

PROFILESWalid Al AwadhiA filmmaker who goes the distanceSheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa The ‘champion of women’s rights’in the Arab worldNwankwo Kanu The Nigerian striker with a heart of goldJulia Sawalha The eco-friendly actress

JOURNEYSEasy ridersPhotojournalist Norbert Schillerrecalls his memorable motorbiketrek across Africa in which heattempted to emulate FrancisFlood and James C. WilsonMY CITYBaghdadA trip down memory laneREAL LIVESChristian FrancisThe diving instructor who embarkedon an eight-year quest that turnedinto an obsession

TALKING TELECOMBreaking the wavesMTC CEO Dr Saad Al Barrak candidly reveals the strategy thathas kept the emerging telecomgiant on the up

CORPORATE SPIRITACE – Growth spurtMTC keeps up the momentumwith new implementation strategy Bringing light to theAfrican ContinentTelecom pioneer, Mo Ibrahim, hasset out on a personal mission tobring good governance and anend to corruption in AfricaMaking a differenceFastlink and MTC bring more thanjust telecommunication advance-ment to Jordan thanks to theircommitment to social programsBridging the digital divide Making the internet more accessible around the globeBringing Africa closer Celtel launches One Network, theworld’s first borderless mobile net-work connecting 100 million peoplein Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

MOBILE LIFECaught on filmAs camera technology continues toimprove, new photojournalists aremaking their markTrivia to inspire

ICONSAll good things come toan endWill Apple’s iPod fade into historymuch like Sony’s Walkman?Apple Mac does it againLaunching the much-anticipatediPhone in the US, this latest offer-ing from the company that broughtus the iPod seems to be living upto all the hype

STAR PROFILEGetting to know DaniaThe Lebanese chanteuse talksabout her rise to the big timeLIFESTYLERelax – just do it!Yoga expert Ghada Ghosn on thediscipline needed to guarantee abetter way of lifeLIVINGGet spiced!The rich origins of some of theworld’s most popular spices

FOR THE RECORDMTC 2006 statsMTC announces a record netincome exceeding $1 billion andrevenues over $4.1 billion

THE LAST WORDMe and my mobile phone...Nicholas Blanford

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MTC News...

MTC experienced a meteoric rise inthe last 18 months. In February, 2006,it announced the acquisition of 61% ofMobitel from Sudatel in a deal valued at$1.332 billion. Through its African sub-sidiary Celtel International, the deal allowedMTC to increase its stake in the Sudanesecompany from 39% to 100%, further con-solidating its Africa portfolio. One week later,MTC recorded another first by publishinggroundbreaking report entitled Mobility forOne Language, Diverse Cultures, launchedat the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelonaand includes ground-breaking research on

the impact of mobile phones in the ArabWorld from economists, financial analysts,consultants, academics and journalists aswell as comprising data from nine surveysconducted in seven Arab countries.

In May 2006, MTC-Vodafone (Bahrain)was the first company in the region tocommercially launch 3.5G (HSDPA),one of the world’s fastest wirelessbroadband access technology usingmobile phones and Data connectcards. HSDPA service dramaticallyincreases the data by up to five timesthat of existing 3G networks, and 15times that of GPRS networks, with datarates of up to 1.8 Mbps per second.

Later that month, MTC’s CeltelInternational acquired a 65% controllingstake in V-mobile in Nigeria for $1.01billion. The transaction was CeltelInternational’s largest ever deal andexpanded its presence to 15 marketson the African continent. The dealincreased MTC’s customer base byover 5 million and allowed it to tap intoNigeria’s 135 million population.

July saw MTC sign a landmark generalsyndication agreement for $4 billion creditfacility used to fund future acquisitionsand general corporate needs.Representatives of 39 leading internation-al banks attended the signing ceremonyin Kuwait, the largest syndicated facilityfor a private sector company in theMiddle East. The credit facility was fullyunderwritten by BNP Paribas, Calyon,Crédit Suisse, and UBS, all of whomacted as Joint Mandated Lead Arrangersand Bookrunners. NBK Capital theinvestment and merchant banking sub-sidiary of National Bank of Kuwait actedas financial advisor on the transaction.

A few months later in September, Celtellaunched One Network, the world’s firstborderless mobile phone network acrossKenya, Tanzania and Uganda. OneNetwork allows customers to movefreely across geographic borders withoutroaming call surcharges and without hav-ing to pay to receive incoming calls.

In the same month, MTC won four presti-gious industry awards from leading mag-

azine CommsMEA in Dubai. They includ-ed Best Middle East Mobile Operator ofthe Year, Best Telecom Deal of the Yearand Best New Non-Voice Service, whileDr. Mo Ibrahim, Chairman of MTC sub-sidiary Celtel in Africa, won a LifetimeAchievement Award.

December witnessed MTC’s $1.2 billionMurabaha facility in Bahrain, which wasunderwritten and syndicated in one of thelargest Islamic financings of 2006. A totalof 29 financial institutions from the MENAregion, Asia and Europe – including ABCIslamic Bank, Arab Bank, Calyon, GulfInternational Bank, Kuwait Finance House,and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi – par-ticipated in the financing, which will beused to refinance the existing $750 millionMurabaha facility for an additional year.Bahrain is a leading Islamic finance centerand home of MTC Vodafone (Bahrain), thefirst greenfield license secured by thegroup and the first nationwide 3G networkin the world.

As the year drew to a close, it wasannounced that the MTC Group of com-

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a glowing yearpanies full-year consolidated revenuesreached KD 1.21 billion ($4.167 billion)for the 12 months ending December 31,2006, an increase of 109% over thesame period in 2005 and a consolidatednet income of KD 305.3.06 million($1.051 billion), an increase of 65% com-pared to the same period last year.

At the end of January 2007, MTClaunched ACE, an implementation strategydevised to realize the target of the compa-ny’s 3x3x3 vision. ACE seeks to extractsuperior value from existing assets throughthree main thrusts: Accelerating thegrowth in Africa; Consolidating the existingassets; and Expanding into adjacent mar-kets. Through the implementation of theACE strategy, MTC’s revised goals for2011 are to attain a $6 billion EBITDAexceeding 70 million customers and tobecome one of the top ten leading tele-com companies in the world in terms ofmarket capitalization.

In March 2007, MTC announced that itsmarket capitalization had exceeded $20 bil-lion. At the AGM, shareholders approved a

one for two stock dividend (1:2) plus a 100fils cash dividend.

Also in March, and in line with its role in sup-porting cultural events across the MiddleEast, MTC Atheer, the Mobile Telecom ofIraq sponsored the 75th anniversary of ArabInternational Music Festival in Cairo. Theevent, held under the patronage of ArabLeague Secretary General, Amr Moussa,commemorated the historical meeting of thefirst Arab Music conference in 1932 andwas supported by the Egyptian OperaHouse and the Arab Music Institute.

On March 24, a consortium led by MTCbeat off six other competitors to win SaudiArabia’s third mobile telephone licence, witha bid of $6.11 billion. With mobile phonepenetration rates in Saudi Arabia of 76%, afigure that could surge to 120% by 2011,MTC should thrive with its 3x3x3 vision.

Finally, early 2007 saw MTC launch theBlackberry in Bahrain and Jordan. The serv-ice will also eventually be available in Kuwait.

Visit www.mtctelecom.com ¬

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Kuwait: Landmark $4 billion credit facility to fund MTC's future growth in July, 2006

Cairo: the Arab International Music Festival in March, 2007

PROFILES

W a l i d AA l AA w a d h iA filmmakerwho goes

the distanceAl Awadhi’s films reflect his firm belief inthe strength and beauty of human relation-ships and the courage of the humanheart, and feature people who have beendeeply affected by war and terrorism. Hisdebut film A Moment in Time (1995) wonawards from both the Houston and OhioInternational Film Festivals and is about thefirst Gulf War, while Dreams without Sleep(2001) tells the poignant stories of NewYork immigrants after the events of 9/11.His other films also deal with gritty andpertinent subject matter: Silence of theVolcanoes (1997) was a documentaryabout Kuwaiti prisoners of war held in Iraq,and his most recent film Storm from theSouth (2006), tells the stories of threewomen who ran for parliament in Kuwait inJune 2006.

It’s no surprise really, that Al Awadhi, whostudied film in New York and worked withGerman documentary director WernerHerzog, is so intensely drawn to portrayingthe effect of war and of difficult situations on

T he Pentagon told him he was crazy,and that he would most probably die, butthat didn’t stop Kuwaiti-born filmmakerand director Walid Al Awadhi from going toIraq in 2003. With his trademark determi-nation and brushing off the dangers asso-ciated with an imminent war, he got him-self embedded with one of the first units topush into the Iraqi capital and went on tomake See You in Baghdad (2005), whichtells the story of love and kinship in themidst of war, and was filmed under thedesperately harrowing circumstances ofthe early days of the invasion.

Al Awadhi, who has been hailed as anadventurer and a man of courage, is alsoa man of vision and one not easily put offby the horrors of war: he lived through theIraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and wit-nessed terrible things in his own countryas well as in others. So, going to Baghdadwas just another necessary step in acareer dedicated to the telling of difficultand sometimes uplifting human stories.

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Walid Al Awadhipeople. Born in 1965, he grew up in Kuwaitstudying civil engineering but nurturingdreams of becoming a professional stillsphotographer. He was so affected by theinvasion of Kuwait that he decided to ditchphotography to film people in hospitals,members of the Kuwaiti resistance andafter that, the liberation of Kuwait. The sup-port he saw people giving one another, aswell as their resilience, was the driving forceof his evolution into a humanistic filmmaker.

Al Awadhi is also keen to bring about arenaissance in Arab cinema and in his roleas CEO of Desert Door Productions(Bawabet El-Saharaa), an independentfilm production company based in Dubaiaimed at developing Arab cinema andproducing quality films by providing sup-port to Arab directors and scriptwriters, hehopes to do this. Al Awadhi’s boldness ofvision extends not only to his own films,but to the entire Arab film industry, inwhich is he is playing an important role tosecure its revival. ¬

PROFILES

Sheikha Haya

The ‘championof women’s

rights’ in theArab world

Sheikha HHaya RRashed AAl-Khalifa

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Rashed Al-Khalifa

Representative to the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization and was also a member of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization’sArbitration Centre Consultative Committeeand she represented Bahrain at theInternational Court of Arbitration of theInternational Chamber of Commerce, anappointment she still holds today.

But it is her participation in the movement toelevate the position of women in Bahrainbefore the Islamic sharia courts where shereally shines as an example of determinationand courage. Tireless in her supporting rolefor women, she is a bold advocate of theprogressive interpretation of Islamic texts asthey apply to women, and is currently amember of Bahrain’s Child DevelopmentSociety and the Arab Women’s LegalNetwork. She is also the vice-president ofthe Bahrain Bar Society, a member of theSupreme Council of Culture, Art andLiterature and has her own law firm.

Sheikha Haya, who has law degrees fromthe University of Kuwait and the University ofParis I: Panthéon-Sorbonne as well as post-graduate degrees from Alexandria Universityand Ain Shams University in Egypt, is keento make as much of a difference internation-ally as she does at home. Speaking afterher appointment as President of the 61st

Session of the UN General Assembly shesaid that she hoped that women willincreasingly assume positions of leadershipat the UN and other international organiza-tions and will strive to provide support foreach other so as to pave the way for futuregenerations of women and help themachieve greatness. ¬

W hen Sheikha Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa,a member of the ruling royal family ofBahrain, was appointed President of theSixty-first Session of the United NationsGeneral Assembly in June 2006, it washailed as a victory for women all over theArab world. To be sure, it was a pretty bigdeal: not only was she the first woman toserve in this role since 1969 – and onlythe third woman ever in this position – shewas the first Arab and Muslim woman insuch a job and the public response to thenews was joyful.

But this brilliant woman, a prominent lawyerand diplomat, fluent in three languages, andone of very few Arab women to make a sig-nificant mark on the political landscape ofthe region as well as on the internationalstage, has always been a pioneer: labeled a‘champion of women’s rights in Islamiccourts’ by United Nations officials, she isalso one of the first two women to practicelaw in Bahrain, the first woman to become aBahraini foreign ambassador, and the firstwoman from the Middle East to hold theposition of vice-chairwoman of the arbitra-tion and dispute resolution committee at theInternational Bar Association.

At the time of her appointment to the UN,Sheikha Haya, who has held senior posi-tions at some of the world’s top legal insti-tutions, was serving as Legal Adviser tothe Royal Court in Bahrain and was alsovery active at the diplomatic level. Sheserved as her country’s Ambassador toFrance, from 2000 to 2004, and as non-resident Ambassador to Belgium,Switzerland and Spain. During the sameperiod, she was Bahrain’s Permanent

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PROFILES

N w a n k w o KK a n u

Not just an imaginative footballer,Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu, star play-er for English Premiership giants Arsenaluntil 2004 and who now plays forPortsmouth, is also courageous in adeeply personal sense. Refusing to let hisown personal battle against a life threaten-ing heart problem get in the way of his bril-liant career, he also supports youngAfrican children with heart defects throughthe Kanu Heart Foundation, which he setup, and is active in building relationshipsto help children in his role as UnitedNation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) NigeriaGoodwill Ambassador.

Known throughout Africa for his philanthrop-ic work, his determination and humanity areinspirational. Born in 1976, and twicenamed African player of the year, theNigerian football prodigy, who captainedNigeria to the Atlanta Olympic Soccer GoldMedal in 1996, became the focus of mediaattention after a celebrated transfer fromAjax of Amsterdam to Inter Milan, when hewas diagnosed as suffering from a weakaorta valve in his heart, a condition that wassaid to be life threatening.

But even as critics were pronouncing thelast rites over his career, Kanu – who wasnicknamed ‘Skin and Bones’ by the coachwho took him to Japan as part of the world-beating Nigerian under-17 side in 1993 –successfully underwent highly complicatedopen heart surgery and later announcedthat he was determined to get fit and keep

playing the sport that was so important tohim. Kanu went on to become one of themost popular of contemporary footballers,combining a career in UK clubs Arsenal,West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouthwith his personal crusade to improve thelives of children in Africa.

Described occasionally as a genius, andalso as a gutsy player known for scoringextravagant goals, his football careerbegan at the age of 15, playing for localnational teams before being signed byAjax in 1993 for $207,047 and then beingsold on to Internazionale Milan for a hefty$4.7 million and then to Arsenal for about£4.2 million.

Kanu cites his relationship with God asone of the most motivating factors in bothhis personal and professional life and it ishis faith and inner strength that have kepthim radiantly positive when others mighthave given up. Described by UNICEF as a‘compelling and eloquent advocate’ infocusing attention on issues related tohuman rights,’ he now uses his fame toencourage girls’ enrolment in schools,tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic throughyouth empowerment, and boost routineimmunization, especially polio eradicationinitiatives in the country, among otherthings. Kanu is a shining example of howfar self belief can carry a person and howpersonal goals can be expanded fromprofessional ones to really make a differ-ence in the world. ¬

TheNigerian

strikerwith a

heart ofgold

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most famous for her roles as prim SaffronMonsoon in one of the most popular BBCcomedy series ever made AbsolutelyFabulous, and as Lydia Bennett in the1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice.

She’s also become known for being avery vocal critic of global warming andhas been quite high profile in coura-geously supporting environmental caus-es, even spending a week onGreenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior a fewyears ago to protest against drilling for oilin the Scottish Hebrides.

PROFILES

Seriously funny and striking too, with rip-pling curls, glowing eyes and a radiantsmile, Julia Sawalha is an eloquent andhard working actress sometimesdescribed as an enigma, who is also amixture of down-to-earth pragmatism andeasygoingness, devoted to her family andto making the world a cleaner, more envi-ronmentally conscious place.

Named after her grandmother, a success-ful Jordanian businesswoman whoreceived an award for enterprise fromQueen Noor (of Jordan), Sawalha, wasborn in London in 1968, and is perhaps

The eco-friendlyactress

J u l i a SS a w a l h a

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Sawalha comes from a thespian back-ground: her sister is an actress and oncestarred in the long running British soapEastenders, while her father appeared inthe James Bond movie The Spy WhoLoved Me. She also has a multi-culturalfamily. Her mother is descended fromFrench Huguenots, possibly refugees,and her father is Jordanian with Bedouinroots, something she is immensely proudof. In fact, Sawalha is extraordinarily fondof her family, and particularly the kinshipshe feels for her brilliant father, who iscredited with nurturing her self-confidenceas an actress and whom she describes asbeing wonderfully cool, someone com-pletely full of love, warmth and wisdom.

She spent five years attending the ItaliaConti Academy before being chosen tostar on the long running British children’sseries Press Gang, which she appeared infrom 1989 to 1993. And while her filmdebut was made in 1990, her first majorbig-screen role was in Kenneth Branagh’sIn the Bleak Midwinter (1995), a comedyabout a group of actors putting on a pro-duction of Hamlet, in which she played therole of a near-sighted scatterbrainedactress with the part of mad Ophelia.Sawalha finally won the lead in a major

claymation film in 2000, lending her voiceto the character of Ginger, the chickenheroine of Peter Lord and Nick Park’shighly successful Chicken Run. Her mostrecent TV project sees her participating inthe third series of the genealogy docu-mentary Who Do You Think You Are?, inwhich she traces her family’s roots.

Described by her father as a bon viveurand someone who is a mixture of coolEnglish rose and desert sharpness andspirituality, Sawalha is clearly a very funnyactress with a social conscience who isnot afraid to use her fame to championcertain pertinent issues or be an outspo-ken advocate of environmental causes.She is dedicated to making the world abetter and cleaner place. ¬

Julia Sawalha

Easy ridersPhotojournalist Norbert Schiller recalls his

JOURNEYS

memorable motorbike trek across Africa in which heattempted to emulate Francis Flood and James C. Wilson

ome fifty years after Francis Floodand James C. Wilson embarked on

the first ever trans-Africa motorcycle tripfrom what is now Largos Nigeria to theEritrean port town of Masawa, on the IndianOcean. At the end of 1986, my fellowadventurer, Mark Ehlen, attempted a repeatperformance of the famous 1932 expedi-tion. Our plan was to begin in the Egyptiancapital, Cairo, and follow the Nile south allthe way to the Khartoum, Sudan, where wewould then turn west and back track overthe original route Flood and Wilson took.

In conversation, everything soundedgood. On paper, the trip proved to be alogistical nightmare. First and foremost weneeded to purchase motorcycles locallythat were rugged enough to endure over5,000 miles (8,045km) of the most inhos-pitable terrain the African continent had tooffer. The Cairo souks provided a quag-mire of different bikes, ranging from thesmall-bore East German MZ and theCzechoslovakian Jawa to the upscaleclassic bikes, BSA and Harley Davidsonthat were pricy and coveted by deep-pocked western expatriates. TheJapanese motorbike revolution had some-how managed to pass Egypt by.

There was one elusive bike on the marketthat both Mark and I had our eyes on butwere unable to find. It was the work horse of

butchers, flower merchants and those whohad large families that could not afford anautomobile but were a class above thehorse and cart crowd. After weeks ofsearching through the Cairo souks, we final-ly found tucked away in one of the manyfruit and vegetable markets the rare piece ofRussian muscle we had been looking for: afire-engine red 1978, 650cc Ural Moto withan optional attached sidecar. As we couldonly afford one bike we decided to go withthe deluxe version, sidecar and all.

Affectionately nicknamed Uri the bike wasdestined to take us through the heart of theAfrica to witness its enigmatic people anduntouched cultures. In conversation it allsounded so good.

After a month of preparing for the trip, wedeparted Cairo on December 26, 1986.The road south along the western edge ofthe Nile, surrounded by fertile fields, was amotorcycle riders dream. On either side ofthe road, there were patchworks of lush

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JOURNEYS

green fields hosting a variety of crops thatwere divided by a complex maze of watertributaries. Donkeys, sheep, children andfellahin (farmers) going to and from thefields cluttered the roads paralleling theNile. We went from motoring in the coldearly morning, through mist-laden farm-lands, to driving under the mid-day Africansun. When we stopped to eat, sleep, ortake in an historical site, dozens of peoplewould gather around us, amazed to seetwo foreigners on what appeared to be abike from a bygone ear. Most were anx-ious to hear about our journey, but oncethey found out our intended destinationthey discarded us as two crazy khawagas(foreigners) suffering from sun-stroke.

The splendor of Egypt ended the minute weloaded Uri onto the ferry traveling on LakeNasser between Aswan and the Sudaneseboarder town of Wadi Halfa. We hadlearned that Sudan was suffering from achronic lack of gasoline so we had loadedenough spare jerricans to at least get us wellon our way. Unfortunately, because of a fireaboard a similar ferry a few years earlier thatkilled over a hundred passengers, the cap-tain of our boat ordered us to empty all thegas from the motorcycle before boarding.This left us with just barely enough to makeit the few miles from the port of disembarka-tion to the town of Wadi Halfa.

Once in Wadi Halfa, we were desperate tobe on our way, but there was no gas to befound anywhere. In our search, we endedup pleading with the mayor in his office onlyto be asked by him if we would be kindenough to give him a lift home. It seemedthat we were operating the only vehicle inthe town. So, instead of continuing our jour-ney we acted as chauffer to the mayor!

After two days, we realized that fuel didnot exist in this northern outpost andnobody knew when, or if, more wouldarrive, so we were forced to abandon theroad and pile the bike onto a train headingsouth. As a way to save money, Mark andI climbed on to the roof of the train and forthe next 24 hours, witnessed the desert 19

Affectionately nicknamedUri, the bike was destined to take us through the heartof Africa

pass below us as temperatures droppedbelow freezing during the night and roast-ed us during the day.

When we arrived at the town of Atbara,midway between Wadi Halfa andKhartoum, we climbed down off the train,got our bike out and drove to the nearesthotel, where we collapsed for two days!

In Atbara, we had better luck. First, wewere able to scrounge some petrol fromthe local police station and then as theday wore on, we were able to slowly fillthe tank and some of the jerricans by

buying it in the souk on the black market.By days end, we had enough to continueour journey south.

The most amazing thing we had noticedthus far since arriving in the Sudan wasthere were no paved roads. From the roof ofthe train all we could see were just sand 20

On more than one occasion, thesand would get so deep that thetires would sink, the enginewould overheat and seize in aplume of blue smoke

JOURNEYS

tracks leading out into the distant desert.Then, all of a sudden as we began headingsouth from Atbara, we found ourselves rid-ding along a newly asphalted road. An openroad with no other vehicles and the wind atour back – what more could one ask for? Asthose thoughts crossed my mind, a largedump truck appeared from nowhere andbarreled right into us, clipping the side carand sending us spinning out of control intoa pile of rocks by the side of the road.

The shock was so great that by the timewe recovered our senses, straightenedout the bike and made sure all was in

order, we realized we were also at theroads end. From there on out, we wereonce again looking down a trail leadingthrough the desert. Uri was a heavy roadbike, built for the roads of the UralMountains of the former Soviet Union.Freezing temperatures and the occasionalsnow drift were hazards the Ural Motocould cope with, but not the dry heat ofthe Sahara Desert and the endless tracksleading through the sand. On more thanone occasion, the sand would get sodeep that the tires would sink, the enginewould overheat and seize in a plume ofblue smoke. And there, in the silence ofthe desert, we would wait until the enginecooled so that we could start it up andproceed once again.

Our saving grace was the train tracks thatstretched between Atbara and Khartoum.If the sand got soft and the going tough,we would abandon the sand and ride onthe elevated ground straddling the threewheels between the metal rails. However,the train tracks too had their limitations.Rail trestles that traversed wadis (valleys)sometimes proved treacherous to bothman and machine. Some trestles were as 21

high as 30 feet (nine meters) above a wadiand to cross, we were forced to stop andmanually push and pull the bike over thewood railroad ties one by one. Dependingon how long the trestle was, it took a con-siderable time and lots of physicalstrength. And then there was the threat ofan oncoming train. The alternative, whichwe chose when we were too exhausted tolift the machine, was to circumvent thetrestle and wadi all together and travelmany miles out of our way, burning pre-cious fuel in the process and increasingour chance of being stuck once again inthe soft sand.

Along the way, we met and stayed with anarray of interesting characters, includingIrish aid workers in a tiny Sudanese ham-let in the middle of nowhere and Bedouinsferrying every imaginable livestock andkitchenware across the desert to sell inthe towns and villages. The people werealways kind no matter how hostile theenvironment.

Once in Khartoum, we rested andreassessed out journey. Since Uri was onits last legs and would not make it any fur-ther in such conditions, we decided toabandon our original plan of crossingAfrica and instead ride the paved road tothe Red Sea harbor of Port Sudan and sailback to Egypt on an ocean liner. However,before doing so, Mark and I had someunfinished business to attend to.

We stored Uri with some friends inKhartoum and then I headed off toN’djamena by plane to cover the warbetween Chad and Libya, while Markclimbed on top another train and traveledaround western Sudan. After two weeks,we both returned to Khartoum packed upUri and headed for the coast. 22

JOURNEYS

Even though the road was paved theentire way, Uri’s lifespan was coming to anend. In order to avoid the heat of the day,we began our final journey from Khartoumto Port Sudan at night. Nevertheless, therecame a point when the engine just frozeand refused to go on. Knowing there wasnothing more we could do, both Mark andI had come to terms with our resolve, sowe just sat on the side of the road andwaited to see what fate would bestowupon us.

And as the sun rose above the desert, awhite pickup truck with the words “Savethe Children” stopped before us, and ayoung Sudanese man got out and said,“Can I help you?” We piled the bike intothe back of the pickup and were given alift the rest of the way to Port Sudan.

Mark and I bought deck class tickets whileUri was stored somewhere in the cargohold. The journey back to Suez viaJeddah lasted almost three days. During

that time, there was not much we coulddo except read and reflect over the upsand downs of our two-month journey.

Twenty years have past since weembarked on that fateful trip. When Markand I get together, we always reflect backon our journey and how someday wewould like to attempt it all again, but thistime following the exact route Francis Floodand James C. Wilson took. Ural Moto hasimproved since the fall of the Soviet Unionand to show our gratitude to, and in honorof, Uri, we would use the same brand ofbike as before – but this time splurge a littleand add a second bike with sidecar. ¬ 23

As the sun rose above thedesert, a white pickup truckwith the words ‘Save theChildren’ stopped before us, anda young Sudanese man got outand said, ‘Can I help you?’

MY CCITY

BagInever feared being in Iraq, rather I was one of thosewho saw the charm and beauty of the country. In the early days my fearwas arriving at Saddam International airport. Later, when there was anair embargo I dreaded taking the 17-hour land route from Jordan.

In the 1980s, you never knew what sur-prises would confront you when youentered the arrival hall. Sometimes thecustoms officials would just confiscate allyour camera and darkroom equipment.Other times they would take everythingyou owned, including a spare change ofclothes and your toothbrush. It usuallytook anywhere between a few hours to aday to get your goods out of the airport.

Even with the help of the press center,every item was scrutinized. Camera lens-es longer than 200mm in focal lengthwere confiscated until you left. Same wastrue for short wave radios, typewritersand anything else like newspapers, mag-azines and even reading books. Andmaps of Iraq were strictly forbidden. Inthose days, I used a typewriter to writemy captions, which I would then stick onto the photograph print before transmitting.I used to beg the officers at the airportand even bribe them with my shortwaveradio just so I could bring in my typewriterinto the country. When I asked Iraqifriends what they wanted most from theoutside world they would all say, “Bringme a short wave radio.”

After securing the release of my equip-ment and paying a courtesy visit to thepress center, the next order of businesswas to go out and get a taste of the local

hdadAtrip downmemory lane

with photojournalistNorbert Schiller

cuisine. Baghdad had lots of little cafésand beer halls along Zadoun Street nearthe then Sheraton and Meridian hotels.After a few drinks, it was always a treat togo by the banks of the Tigris and eat thefamous masgouf fish cooked on an openfire or to go to one of the popular districtsand eat kouzi, a rice and lamb dishloaded with spices and usually sharedwith many people.

Iraq was never one of those places wherethe minute you landed you were expectedto be out in the field working. No, thatwas impossible. Iraq had a very strict setof rules governing visiting journalists. Thefirst thing was to present a sheet of paperwith everything you wanted to do, includ-ing places you wanted to visit and peopleyou wanted to interview. There wasalways some mundane thing I would writedown like visiting the Baghdad zoo or anewly constructed tourist island that theyimmediately approved. In the end theynever gave you what you really wantedbut after a week or so of doing basicallynothing, there was always that late night

phone call “please be in the lobby at 6amtomorrow, we are going to the battle frontto witness Iraq’s great victory over Iran.”

Trips to the front were always welcomenews, especially in the last year of thewar, when Iraq began gaining back someof the territory it had lost. After a while, Iwould just ignore filling out the requestform and wait for the phone call instead.

The Iraqi authorities were never very keenon having press linger around the countryfor too long. They knew sooner of latersomeone would get into trouble and oneof their heads would roll. So the best thingto do as a journalist until that phone rangwas to play tourist and enjoy the sites ofBaghdad. It was funny, as a photographer,the authorities never cared where youwent as long as you didn’t carry a camera.For writing journalists, they took an oppo-site approach and discouraged them fromwandering around unaccompanied.

Besides the open air cafés and restau-rants, I really enjoyed going to the old

brass market. Baghdad was one of thefew Arab capitals where you could stillfind beautiful old antique carpets, brass,jewelry, pottery, etc. This was due in partto Iraq falling foul as a western touristdestination. Also, there were many reli-gious shrines for Muslim pilgrims comingfrom other countries to visit. These pil-grims would pay for their trip by bringinggoods from their country and sell them toantique merchants in Baghdad and othertowns and cities.

After leaving the brass market, I used towander along Rasheed Street, below theold buildings and arches that covered thepedestrian walkway. Under SaddamHussein, much of Baghdad was goingthrough a period of modernization, butalong Rasheed Street, near the river, thearchitecture was largely left intact andsome of the buildings were even beingrestored to their original splendor.

In the months which followed Iraq’s inva-sion of Kuwait in August 1990, nothingreally changed. However, as time woreon and the country became more andmore isolated from the outside world, youcould not help but feel a sense ofdespair in the people. The first thing thatmost Iraqis did was keep extravagant

26

When I askedIraqi friends whatthey wanted mostfrom the outsideworld they wouldall say, ‘Bring mea short waveradio’

MY CCITY

expenditures to a minimum and spendmoney on necessary things. For a peo-ple that like to go out and eat and enjoylife, suddenly they found themselves liv-ing between the home and the workplace. Restaurants and places for enter-tainment were the first to feel the effects.After some months, the only peoplegoing out were a spattering of foreign aidworkers, journalists and the few Iraqiswho could afford the luxury. Some yearslater, while sitting at one of the few goodrestaurants still opened, I noticed a famil-iar face at the table next to me. It wasnone other than Daniel Ortega, the onceand present leader of Nicaragua, whowas in Iraq to lend moral support.

I can best describe the 1990s as the peri-od when Baghdad began to close itsdoors. From one visit to next, I would seeshops and restaurants boarded up alongthe main thoroughfares that crossed thecity. The exodus of Iraqis moving else-where in the world was on the rise andwith them went Baghdad’s vibrancy. In2003, after the Americans temporarily

secured Baghdad, the city slowly cameback to life. Many Iraqis who had left atvarious stages of the country’s volatile his-tory were returning once again to see whatopportunities were out there. All of a sud-den, restaurants began to open their doorsand people came flooding in. Baghdadwas on the rise if only for a short while.

In the three and half years since the fallof Saddam Hussein, Iraq has witnessedboth the highs and lows of life without

Saddam. In the beginning, it lookedpromising; now though, the worse casescenario is taking hold. What the futureholds is anyone’s guess. One thing isfor certain: give the Iraqis an open win-dow of opportunity and suddenlyBaghdad could be once more the glori-ous city of old. ¬

27

REAL LLIVES

I t was a chance conversation with a fish-erman in 1996 that sent Christian Francis,a Lebanese-Austrian diving instructor, onan eight-year quest that would result inone of the most remarkable underwaterdiscoveries ever. It was a journey that tookhim from mild curiosity to a near spiritualobsession to find the last resting place ofHMS Victoria, once the flagship of theBritish Royal Navy’s Mediterranean fleet,which sank with the loss of 358 officersand men after being rammed by the bat-tleship Camperdown during maneuversoff the coast of the northern Lebanese cityof Tripoli in 1893.

After studying economics at the ViennaUniversity of Economics, Francis returnedto Lebanon in 1993. A gifted athlete,Francis had rowed for Lebanon at the 1992Olympic Games in Barcelona, the first Arabever to participate in an Olympic rowingevent. But it was scuba diving that had hadFrancis hooked since a teenager, exploringthe Amshitee coastline in northernLebanon. “I will never forget my firstdescent, the silence, the bubbles, the end-less possibilities for exploration,” he says.

By 1996, he was well established with aflourishing diving business, which included

training Lebanon’snaval comman-dos and supplyingthe army with div-ing equipment. Itwas while explor-ing several “blueholes” – underwa-

ter vertical caverns inthe seafloor – that he learned of the exis-tence of HMS Victoria. “I was asking myfisherman friend what there was to see offthe north Lebanon coast, and he told methere were some underwater cliffs, grot-tos, a couple of sunken ships, and ofcourse, HMS Victoria.” The final restingplace of HMS Victoria was unknown, soFrancis made several trips to London toexamine British naval records at theNational Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

“Finding the Victoria would be my legacyto the community of divers in Lebanon,”he says. “I had found a way of bringingtogether my ideas and my passion.” As

the years passed, he grew concerned thatother people were also hunting for HMSVictoria. One day he visited the British warcemetery in Tripoli, named after thedoomed Royal Navy ship, and asked forthe visitor book. “I was curious to see ifanyone had written a challenge in thebook that they were seeking the Victoria,”he says. But there was no indication thatanyone else was on the hunt.

Instead, Francis left his own written prom-ise. “I wrote ‘I will bring HMS Victoria backto memory,’ and I signed and dated theentry,” he recalls. “As I left the cemetery, Ihad a near religious feeling that I hadmade a promise to the dead of HMSVictoria and I felt I could not back down.”He redoubled his efforts, giving up workso that he could devote himself full-time tohis quest. “You can’t do this sort of thingwithout deep motivation. I stopped work-ing for a year and a half. All my time andfinancial resources were dedicated to themission,” he says.

by Nicholas Blanford

28

The Lebanese divinginstructor who embarked

on an eight-year questthat turned into an

obsessionC

hri

stia

n F

ran

cis

By spring of 2004, he had narrowed downthe suspected location of the battleshipand was ready to begin an extensiveunderwater search operation, having hiredMark Ellyat, a British diver with deep divingexperience. On August 22, he descendedbeneath the waves with Ellyat, following arope toward the sea floor, when theynoticed a huge shadow lying to their left.

“We couldn’t imagine what it was and soswam over to see,” he recalls. It was, ashe had hoped, the HMS Victoria. Yet byan extraordinary fluke, the 10,000 ton,iron-plated battleship was standing com-pletely vertical with about a quarter of herlength buried in the soft mud of the seafloor. “We are both experienced divers.But, we were completely and totallyspeechless and amazed at what we saw.”

It was a unique discovery. Of the 80-90,000known shipwrecks around the world, HMSVictoria is the only one resting at a 90 degreeangle. The Victoria’s upright position isthought to be due to the weight of the mas-sive twin 16.25-inch guns, the largest in theworld at the time, and the 18-inch armor plat-

ing as well as the still spinning propellers thatdrove the ship straight down after it sank.

Francis intends to thoroughly explore thewreck, which has been declared an exclu-sion zone, and hopefully recover the twoguns as well as other artifacts. But the HMSVictoria is not Francis’ only underwater dis-covery. Although the “blue holes” off thenearby Chekaa coastline were known tolocal fishermen, Francis was the first to diveinto them and learn just how large they are.The largest, which has a perimeter ofbetween 500-600 meters, is “inactive”, butthe other is connected by sink holes andunderground rivers to the Qadisha valley.

“In the winter when you drive out of theChekaa road tunnel, if you look past theheadland you will see the sea in turmoiland the water discolored from all thespring water coming out,” he says.Furthermore, the water is fresh, havingoriginally been snow melt or rain water,which seeped into the porous limestoneof Mount Lebanon and flowed throughunderground rivers to come out in the bluehole, six kilometers off the Chekaa coast.

Francis is consultant and chief diver withThe Cousteau Society, collaborating tofilm a documentary on Lebanon’s waterresources. Their team will be abseiling intoa sink hole around 1,700 meters abovesea level near Tannourine, kayaking alongan underground river then scuba divingdown a flooded passageway. The film willend with the team emerging from theactive “blue hole,” creating the impressionthat they have traveled underground all theway and simulating water’s journey fromthe mountain to the sea. In that way,Francis hopes to highlight Lebanon’sremarkable hydro-geological features aswell as assess the potential commercialopportunities in exploiting the fresh waterfrom the “blue hole” for agriculture.

“I like to do things that have a positiveeffect on the community,” he says. “I don’twant to leave this world feeling that Ihaven’t made a difference because I knowthat I can make a difference – by providinginspiration for the young and making themdream, like I dream myself.” ¬

‘We are both experienced divers. But, wewere completely and totally speechless andamazed at what we saw’

29

TALKING TTELECOM

Breaking the wavesMTC CEO Dr Saad Al Barrak candidly

reveals the strategy that has kept theemerging telecom giant on the up

ince its establishment in 1983, MTC has consistentlyraised the bar in the region as it strives to wow its cus-

tomers while providing them not only the latest telecommu-nications technology, but also highly competitive services and

customer care. Today, the company is even more committed to allits stakeholders and plans to reach even more customers by goingglobal. MTC Group CEO, Dr Saad Al Barrak, sits down to dis-cuss the company’s strategic vision ‘3 x 3 x 3’, a formula that isexpected to propel the company into the global arena in threesuccessive three year stages.

MTC has become another word for success in building an inter-national telecommunications company. What is the most endur-ing aspect of your business?Our most enduring aspect would be our people, our team. This iswhere we think we can make a difference. Our most distinct andenduring aspect is our culture, our company values, the way we tryto differentiate ourselves from others. Some may say this is genericand too general – it is generic and general but it is the simplest andthe most difficult thing at the same time. Ours is a service industry,which means it is human-intensive and human-incentive at thesame time. Therefore, bringing together an excellent set of talent

S

30

and retaining them and setting up an environment conducive toexcellence and the highest ethical, moral and business standards, isthe biggest and most enduring challenge, and that is why we havefrom day one pursued a human-resource centric strategy.

So the human factor is the common element underlying your3x3x3 strategic vision and the new ACE strategy, which stands forAccelerate, Consolidate, Expand?Definitely. 3x3x3 is a vision of how we see the future and how weare going to grow. ACE is an implementation strategy for how weare going to achieve the 3x3x3. It is not a separate strategy, it isa continuation that is more focused on implementation and thecommon denominator is our human-driven strategy. If you look atACE implementation, our biggest challenge is talent. To grow thisway and implement such programs, we must have talent, be ableto attract the best of talent and retain that talent to be with us forlife. This is the biggest challenge and the common denominatoracross the entire nine-year horizon of 3x3x3.

If you look at 3x3x3 from the aspect of going from national toregional to global in three times three years, you would now be atthe beginning of the second phase, the growth stage.Chronologically speaking, we are at the beginning of stage two,but in terms of execution and achievement, we are at the begin-ning of stage three.

Will stage two and three now run concurrently?I think it is very difficult to put a demarcation line that separatesstage two from stage three. For example, one big part of ACE is

to consolidate. We have raced ahead in acquisition and expan-sion and now we need to solidify and intensify and anchor thisachievement into a very elaborate system and institution that cansustain and manage this in the best way.

And that is entirely driven on the human side?We will never be and do not intend to be a technology leader. Inthe end, customer desire is the mandate and not the latest tech-nology. How many technologies have been forced upon peoplethat did not succeed and did not fly? We have to do it the otherway around. It is a subtle difference but it makes a big distinctionin your institution and your implementation.

You are saying this as an engineer by training. Does being anengineer help you to understand the limits of technology?I moved from the engineering to the human side of managingtechnology rather than creating and developing technology. Theengineering of a technical network and theengineering of a human network are two dif-ferent worlds. You can never engineerhuman beings. Engineering in general isvery deterministic in nature because it deals

with material. But when you are dealing with the individual, youdeal with the most complex universe in our universe. You are notdealing with a body; you are dealing with an intellect, with a soul.And the energy of this soul can never be engineered. It can beenticed, stimulated, instigated, and provoked. You try influencingits direction but its quantity is not subject to any measurement,because, after all, even engineering starts with the imagination,which is purely a human issue.

Is that how you approach your job?Exactly. Leading as a CEO is purely a human job. The technicalside should not be the priority. There should be technical aware-ness as to facilitate dialogue between you and anybody else and32

TALKING TTELECOM

Our raison d’être is to bring about aninstitution that contributes to human

civilization in the most significant wayand advances our countries and the

region and others

you should feel like an alien among all those engineers and mar-keters. So you must have a minimum level of awareness but youshould not be preoccupied and obsessed with technology.

Where do the numbers come in, as responsibility to shareholdersand responsibility to stakeholders?The numbers come in as a measurement and milestone. We do notoperate in a vacuum and need to measure our progress as a whole.But the numbers are the thermometer and not the heat, so we wantto make sure that we don’t confuse the thermometer and the heat.

So having $1 billion in profits, as the group did in 2006, and 27million active customers is not your raison d’etre? Not at all. Our raison d’etre is to bring about an institution thatcontributes to human civilization in the most significant way andadvances our countries and the region and others. We do it as

an economic enterprise and subject ourselves to the stringentmeasurements of the economic enterprise. People have to testi-fy to our success by exceeding the acceptable returns on invest-ments, but that is not our raison d’etre and it shall never be. Allgreat companies in the world start with a vision like this.

Do you think that being on this pursuit that you describe here will attimes be challenged by people who say make me more profits?That is not a concern for us, because we are in the business of mak-ing history and not money making. When you are in the business ofhistory making, you are bound to make much more money than peo-ple who focus on the money making side, because we change the

whole societal and human paradigms and those who change para-digms are bound to have the maximum results and impact.

When we started, my shareholders asked me what return we wouldachieve and I said 20-20. They asked what is 20-20, and I said wewill grow by at least 20% each year and we will bring you at least a20% return on your investment. That is fine with them and a very goodperformance. When we talk internally, we talk about quantum leapsand not about menial financial targets and so on.

But can it be said that you have been performing in accordancewith the promises you made?We started the implementation of our vision in the year 2003; at thattime, our total market value was around $2.8 billion. At the end of2006 we approached $18 billion in valuation and at end of March2007 we exceeded $21 billion. We were recording $250 million in

profit per year, today we are over $1 billion. We were at $400 millionEBITDA, which is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, andamortization; today we are well above $2 billion. So by any financialstandard, nobody in the world can tell us that we have not donesuperbly, hamdillah, yet we continue and hang on firmer to our vision:history making, contributing to civilization, being good to people andcreating the best human environment so that they can excel. That iswhy we focus on caring for our people, caring for our community. Wedo not measure these things in terms of how much they will impactthe cost of our payroll or our operation this year.

33

So Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not a function of mar-keting for you?CSR is for us is a human value that is based on our dedicationand our commitment to our community, that we do proactivelybefore the community and the state would impose these thingson us as it also happened in Europe and the US. We do this gen-uinely, regardless of requirements.

With such a focus, how do you deal with the different situationsin different markets?We have long-term targets; we may not see short-term results allthe time. We have seen setbacks in certain places, when someof our companies have lost money, lost market share. The wholepoint is we don’t look at one or two spots. The beauty of goinglarge is diversification and bringing together a portfolio.

And you will not immediately seek to shed those underperformingmarkets?No. Our main focus would be on how to make these marketssucceed and become great performers.

You stated in your ACE strategy as one goal to become one ofthe top 10 companies in the world by market captalization.By 2011.

Given the fact that you are going to list in London next year andalready have added a few billion in market cap in early 2007alone, is this target a deliberate understatement?If you look at the details of our strategy, the real target is to reachfive times EBITDA and we are aiming to reach $6 billion in EBIT-DA, regardless of market valuation. We based our calculation ona very humble market valuation, because five times EBITDA is avery low ratio by today’s standards. So if we reach $6 billion EBIT-DA by 2011, our market valuation will probably be beyond $40billion thus ranking us as one of the top ten telecommunicationscompanies in the world.

Do you foresee a time when the development of your marketshare and profits will be leveling?I hope it will level after 50 years, when we are the largest compa-ny in the world and have already reached our mature stage. Butuntil then, I don’t see it leveling. It will be lower, because the larg-er you are, the harder it is to grow and the less need there is togrow, but inshallah, it will not level.

But you are not sentenced to permanent growth?Permanent growth is impossible for humans to achieve. You needto grow in your own time or at your own pace. Life makes us growand if our lifecycle and mandate as the management team of thecompany is ten years, then during these ten years we want tomake history. After that, we leave it to those that follow to do abetter job.34

TALKING TTELECOM

Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab economy. It con-tributes 60% to the total GDP of the Arab coun-tries. That is why there is no comparison betweena license in Saudi Arabia and other licenses

You have won the third mobile communications license in Saudi Arabiawith a bid of $6.1 billion. How important was this competition for you?We have been praying every day to win, and we did.

It was expected that the license would be cheaper. Did you overpay?Saudi Arabia has the largest Arab economy. It contributes 60% tothe total GDP of the Arab countries which is why there is no com-parison between a license in Saudi Arabia and other licenses – itis a different dimension. If we would take what [UAE telecommu-nications operator] Etisalat paid for the third license in Egypt asbenchmark, the Saudi license should cost $11 billion.

When the license in Saudi Arabia was offered for sale, some ana-lysts took the view that this is the last big opportunity of this kind.Do you share this assessment?There is no last big opportunity in the history of mankind.Therefore I don’t think so. Growth is life. It is the last Greenfieldlicense in the area but there could be other big opportunities,such as buying a company that is not doing very well in a bigmarket, taking this company and turning it around.

In your entire reach of operations, from Africa to the Middle East andeventually heading further north, how do you go at the challenge ofintegrating those different cultures into one corporate culture?Because our main principle and pillar of our corporate culture is diver-sity – we are not a Kuwaiti company or an Arab company. We belongto the whole of humanity and want to do something great for human-ity as a whole and for the human cause. So we do not only acceptdiversity, we celebrate diversity and the beauty of diversity. Secondly,all of this area, culturally and historically, we have lots of points in com-mon. We are all the underprivileged world, the third world. We havethe same ambitions and dreams to reposition ourselves in the humancommunity overall and this brings us much closer together.

How will this play out when you start trading on the London StockExchange some time from now?Being listed in London is not our main target in itself. It is notabout prestige or something to brag about. We want to be aglobal company which means that we have to be in the center ofworld markets and we also need exposure to the whole world.But that will not be at the expense of our values, our vision, andour commitment to our cause. I think the main issue at the end isthat markets want great results and great governance at thesame time and we are committed to both.

We want to change history and rewrite the image of country risksin general. We have proven that you can do great business inAfrica and not get robbed or confiscated, and you don’t have toundertake corruption in any way. You can be a virtuous companydoing great business and, at the same time, add value to thecommunities you work in. You can even contribute to the refor-mation of these communities and countries because you strike agreat example of a virtuous institution, and that is what we wanthistory to remember us for.

Will you do that mostly by your corporate example or also throughthe services that you provide?We do that through everything. Our corporate example is the way wedeal with people, the way we take care of the community, the way wesee our future all together, the way in which we want to contribute tothe development and advancement of the telecoms market in thatcountry, which is the nerve of the new economy. One example is thefarmers who live in the Congo and other places, who used to sell theircrops for peanuts because they had no information – but when we

35

empower them with the mobile they can make one call and get theprices around the world and sell their crops in a much better way andmultiply their wealth five or six times.

The way you speak makes it sound that you see no limits andwant to be a company that exceeds what some of the largestmultinational companies have in terms of customer numbers orassets, not only among telecom companies.The sky is not the limit for us. If the sky was the limit, no plane wouldever have flown and no shuttle would have been sent to the moon.The sky is not the limit; the sky is only the first stepping stone.

But do you see along this way a potential or danger that some-day another of the very large telecom companies would want toswallow you?For me, I love danger. People who have changed the course of his-tory are the craziest people and we want to belong to this clan. Sowe are not afraid that these big guys come and try to swallow usbecause that would mean that our value has become so great andwe have proved to the world that a company built on the views andbeliefs and the principles we have, is really a crown jewel that world-class companies want to grab. It will not be easy for anyone toswallow us but if someone wants to swallow us and do a greaterjob than we do, we will, as we say in Arabic, let him enjoy it.

In terms of going to other countries, you some time ago men-tioned Eastern Europe as a possibility. Can you be more specificabout the countries you want to enter?I think our main focus will be our core strategic market – Middle East,Africa, Asia. We will look at selected opportunities in Europe; that ismore in Eastern Europe and emerging Europe than the old Europe.Also at Central Asia, these are mainly our targets.

The MTC expansion in Africa was based on a model of manyusers, less ARPU, and developing a strong brand. Are you goingto develop a joint brand across Africa or even in all your markets?That’s right. We have developed a new brand that will be launched inSeptember 2007 as a global brand for all our operations. We will startin the Middle East in 2007 and we will move this to Africa in 2008. Wewill also start any new operation with the new global brand.

Today it is no longer correct to say that MTC is a Vodafone partner?No, not at all. Our agreement with Vodafone is a co-brandingagreement only.

Having heard what you said so far, you will not emphasize beinga Middle Eastern or Kuwaiti company but you will show yourselfwith a new global identity.That is right, which was the intention from day one.

Will you decide on a new name?We have decided on a new name, and this will be made publicin September 2007 when it is launched. Our criteria for develop-ing the name and testing it were global. It was the winner among1,400 names, of which 90% were of English origin.

Are you planning to launch the new name in a package with mar-keting new services?Not necessarily. We focus on value for our customer more thantying this with products and services and so on. We are not fondof this obsession with excessive consumer marketing. We com-pete using great long-term customer value.

Is it true that you are planning to provide global roaming acrossyour operating territories without roaming charges?As much as possible. We have started this in our Eastern Africanoperations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda under the One Networkname. It was the world’s first and we plan to do it between Jordanand Iraq because we have international gateways in both countries.Where we have an international gateway and where the regulationspermit us to combine our networks, we will combine them. In someother countries, we do not have international gateways. But wher-ever possible, we will have one network.

In a market like Lebanon, this would not be possible now,because of ownership reasons.Definitely, and not only for ownership reasons. God help Lebanonto come out of its political predicament.

Would you still be interested to bid for an operator license inLebanon if it goes on the auction block?Yes. We are committed to Lebanon with our life.

How do you see the role of Nigeria in your operations? What doyou expect there in terms of growth?Nigeria is the crown jewel and treasure of Africa. Today, we havealmost 7 million customers and our target by 2008 is 18 millioncustomers in Nigeria. It is going to be our largest market.

Can you break down your target of 70 million customers by 2011in terms of geography and markets?I think most of it will be in Africa; at least 45 million will come fromAfrica. Around 15 to 20 million customers will come from our Arabmarkets and 5 to 10 million will come from new territories andnew acquisitions.36

TALKING TTELECOM

Looking those few years down the road and shaping your role forthe future, what will the meaning of the mobile phone be fiveyears from today?The meaning of the mobile phone has always been for me and willcontinue to be my gateway to the world. It is my social gateway,entertainment gateway, educational gateway. It is the gadget thatintegrates the whole world and reduces it to a very simple reposito-ry that can give me access anytime, anywhere, any place.

Any drawbacks, risks to the mobile phone, such as dangers ofaddiction or intrusiveness of the device?I think that only health and happiness can come from the mobilephone – nothing else. The point is that the mobile phone multi-plies the capacity of the human being. The source of all activitieslies within the human being, so if I am a social intruder, the mobilephone will not prevent this. But in fact, the mobile phone expos-es human deficiencies and wrong acts and entices the wholesociety to fight those and contain them, rather than this germbeing hidden and growing until it overpowers everything.

Are you saying that all controversial issues, such as abuse of mobilephones for transmitting improper images or unwanted dating, have tobe handled by human ability, not controlled through technology?We can’t keep hiding our society. We have to open the doors andwindows and let the sunshine come through that burns all the

germs that exist inside our societies. We cannot just hide thegerms by limiting technological access. In the end, values aresustainable if they are well inculcated and owned by people. Butto force a society to behave in a way that is contrary to its desiresand value system does not work. It is not a healthy way to bringabout a human community.

Given the evolution of societies over the past 50 years or 5,000years and how problems have a tendency of being magnified inhuman history, would you object to someone calling your view ofman optimistic to the point of being naïve?I really do not mind being called naïve by anyone. In fact, I love beingcalled naïve because naivety is purity, decency. My value systembelieves in the goodness of the human being. All religions and allgreat traditions of humanity are based on the belief and trust thathuman beings are good. This is the way that we should treat humanbeings. It does not mean that we cannot account for the bad andtake precautions against the bad, but it does not have to be doneexcessively and it should not come at the expense of the main good.The good is the rule, the devious is the exception.

Thank you.

37

The sky isnot the

limit; thesky is only

the firststepping

stone

39

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44

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TALKING TTELECOM

Indeed last year, according to figures in The Economist inDecember, customer growth in Africa averaged 40% and rev-enues increasing by as much as 50% a year in certain markets.

With $10.5 billion earmarked by MTC for investment in Africa andsurging penetration rates, Africa will be a major facilitator for theACE strategy to attain a $6 billion EBITDA (earnings before inter-est, tax, depreciation and amortization), exceed 70 million cus-tomers and become one of the top ten mobile operators in theworld by market capitalization by 2011.

MTC aims to capture the lion’s share of each mobile market,reaching 50% market share where MTC is a “leader,” and a 30%market share in countries where MTC is a “challenger.” As aresponsible corporate citizen, MTC is committed to partneringwith local communities to support sustainable development initia-tives. The fact that communication is not a luxury but a catalystfor the development of communities, it is important that MTC’seconomic, social and cultural projects have a positive impact onthe people of all the countries in which it operates.

To fully implement the ACE strategy all of MTC’s 12,700 employ-ees will be involved to make implementation a success. This willinclude further integration extracting more synergies across alloperations. MTC is able to leverage its considerable resources tomaximise returns to shareholders, with clear strategic objectivesand an integrated, convergent approach to customer service andmarket expansion.

Currently, all MTC’s 20 country operations (OpCos) heads alongwith MTC’s executive management team (CXOs) are preparingACE OpCo roadmaps to prioritize the more than 40 initiatives ofACE. A workshop was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in April2007, where leaders from all OpCos and the Group met to dis-cuss and share ideas on how to make ACE successful. ¬

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

n January 2007, MTC launched ACE, an ambitious newimplementation strategy to spur growth, consolidate mar-

ket share and put MTC among the top 10 telecommunicationscompanies worldwide in the next five years. Inaugurated at agathering of MTC and Celtel executives in Tanzania that was alsoattended by country’s president, HE Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, ACEis the acronym for Accelerate (growth), Consolidate (existingassets), and Expand (into adjacent markets).

MTC is well on its way to achieving this growth strategy, as the40 plus initiatives of ACE are the final part of the ‘3x3x3’ profitableexpansion strategy that was launched in 2003. These initiativesrange from sharing best practices throughout all operations,improving procurement, expanding network coverage and serv-ices, and to establishing a top talent program to attract and retainthe best people to name a few.

The initial part of the 3x3x3 vision was to expand beyond Kuwaitregionally that has resulted in MTC operating in Jordan, Bahrain,Lebanon, Iraq and soon Saudi Arabia (early 2008). The second partwas to expand beyond the Middle East, which occurred through the$3.36 billion acquisition of the pan-Africa mobile operator Celtel inApril 2005. MTC is now operating in 14 African countries, a majordriving force behind the company’s growth. “Africa is important tous, as we have invested more than $6 billion in less than two yearson the continent since we acquired Celtel International,” said MTC’sCEO Dr Saad Al Barrak at the Tanzania event.

Since the acquisition of Celtel, MTC’s African active customerbase has leapt from 6 million to more than 18.9 million (March 31,2007). The future looks just as bright, with the continent’s mobilepenetration averaging just 20%, indicating major growth potential.

46

Growth spurtMTC keeps up themomentum with newimplementation strategy

I

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

udanese-born telecom pioneer, Mo Ibrahim, is a man on amission. As one of Africa’s most successful and distin-

guished business leaders, he has dared to go where otherswouldn’t, and has almost single-handedly introduced mobiletelephony in the Mother Continent. After the April 2005 sale ofCeltel, the company he established, he founded the Mo IbrahimFoundation, a non-profit organization promoting good gover-nance in sub-Saharan Africa. The Foundation has also out-stripped the Nobel Foundation in handing out the world’s largestannual prize: the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in AfricanLeadership. The committee formed to select the winner is head-ed by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Worth $5 million over a period of 10 years, and $200,000 annu-ally for life thereafter, the Prize – the first of which will be awardedin October 2007 – will be given yearly to former heads of state orgovernment in sub-Saharan Africa, who have left office in the lastthree years and have shown exemplary leadership during their

The prize is based on results monitored by the Index of AfricanGovernance. Developed by Harvard University professor, RobertRotberg, it offers a comprehensive and quantifiable method of meas-uring governance quality by assessing such key areas as sustainableeconomic development, human development (health and education),democracy, human rights, transparency and security. The index willserve as one of the main benchmarks for the committee.

The establishment of the Foundation at the end of 2006 wasapplauded by such prominent leaders as Nelson Mandela, BillClinton and Tony Blair. These plaudits not only illustrate the impor-tance of the foundation, but also highlight the stature Mo Ibrahimenjoys among the Who’s Who of the world’s political and busi-ness elite. It is without a doubt a place well deserved, thanks toan eventful life dedicated to mobile telephony and progress.

Born in Sudan in 1946, Mo Ibrahim obtained a BA in ElectricalEngineering from the University of Alexandria before heading to

time in office. A further $200,000 annually will be donated to acause nominated by the winning leader. The foundation is entire-ly funded by Mo Ibrahim.

“The task that lies before us, identifying the best in African lead-ership, is challenging,” said Annan at a Geneva press confer-ence. “While developed countries have an important role to playin creating an enabling environment for Africa’s development, it isfor Africa to lead and take ownership of Africa’s developmentprocess. Good governance and leadership are central to findingsolutions to the vast challenges that face Africa.”

Kofi Annan will find himself in good company at the Committee.Other members include, among others, former Finnish president,Martti Ahtisaari; former Irish president and UN High Commissionerfor Refugees, Mary Robinson; former Tanzanian prime minister,Salim Salim and former Finance Minister and Foreign Minister ofNigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

S

Under the motto ‘Who’s afraid of Africa,’ Celtel startedin Zambia and Uganda and vowed never to pay a singledollar in bribes

48

“This is an African initiative celebrating the suc-cesses of new African leadership. It sets anexample that the rest of the world can emulate.We wish the new Foundation very well and callfor leaders across the world – in government,civil society and business – to endorse its aimsand back its vision. For the Foundation aims todeliver the biggest prize of all: helping to ensurethat our rich continent becomes a prosperousone – for all its people.”

Nelson Mandela

Telecom pioneer, Mo Ibrahim, has set out on a personal mission to bring good governanceand an end to corruption in Africa 49

Bringing light to theAfrican Continent

Meanwhile, Ibrahim entered the market of mobile phone opera-tors in 1998, with a company that would eventually be known asCeltel International. His main theater of operation was not Europe,but the virtually virgin market of Africa. Again he performed withphenomenal success. By 2005, Celtel had 5 million subscribersin 13 countries, a scenario that was ripe for MTC to step in andbuy Celtel for $3.36 billion.

In an interview with French Magazine Jeune Afrique, Mo Ibrahimexplained how, in that time, no western company dared invest inAfrica, unless it involved oil, gas or other natural resources. “I realizedjust how negative the image was of this region in the world,” he said.“Since I’m African by origin myself, I was obviously well aware of thedaily difficulties faced by people in Africa. But I felt that my colleaguesexaggerated the risks [in investing in telecom] and that there was anenormous gap between perception and reality.”50

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

Britain, where he obtained an MA from the University ofBradford and a PhD in Mobile Communication from theUniversity of Birmingham – a feat achieved well before thefirst mobile phones entered our lives. In the early 1980s, he joinedBritish Telecom (BT) as a technical engineer and witnessed therise of the mobile phone use in England and Europe when in1984 the first 5,000 bulky handsets were introduced in Britain.

Following the European Union’s decision at the end of the 1980sto privatize the telecom market and allow private operators tocompete with former state monopolies, Ibrahim left BT to estab-lish Mobile Systems International (MSI), a consultancy firm offer-ing know-how and services to the many new operators inEurope. Within a year, MSI had hired 10 engineers. By 1992, thisnumber had increased to 25 and by 2000, when the companywas sold, it was home to 800 employees.

“The African continent has for too longbeen characterized as the ‘Dark Continent’of the world ostensibly because of theinability of our leaders, past and present, totackle the various challenges that confrontour people. This project of rewardingrespect for constitutionality would supportall earlier efforts in spurring leadership to agreater height in the process of alleviatingpoverty and disease, and ensuring muchneeded development.”

Alpha Oumar Konaré(Chairperson, African Union)

Ibrahim was convinced. He believed there was a need forAfricans to communicate with each other, just as there was forany other human being anywhere else on the planet. Under themotto ‘Who’s afraid of Africa,’ Celtel started in Zambia andUganda and vowed never to pay a single dollar in bribes. Therest, as they say, is history. When Celtel started, there were some two million mobile phoneson the whole continent. Today there are over 200 million, a quar-ter of which are in South Africa and Nigeria. Celtel now hasupwards of 18.9 million users and 60% growth per year.

The BBC recently reported that mobile phone use in Africa is growingfaster than anywhere else in the world and that Africa is the sole con-tinent where mobile phone use greatly outnumbers the use of fixedlines. And still there is enormous potential room for growth, as by theend of 2006, less than 20% Africans had a mobile phone.

Following his immense success, Ibrahim is determined to bring toAfrica good governance and reward true leadership. Let’s hope,the success of the mobile phone sector in Africa will set theexample in proving skeptics wrong, and show that there is hopefor the continent. Seeing its beauty and overwhelming nature, it’sabout time Africans started to help and govern themselves andthat the continent embarks on a path of enlightenment. ¬

51

Worth $5 million over a period of 10 years, and $200,000annually for life thereafter, the prize will be given year-ly to former heads of state that have shown exemplaryleadership during their time in office

“Mo Ibrahim has started an AfricanFoundation to help Africa move forward,that’s a good example of Africa helpingitself and an important model for movingforward to create growth stability andpeace in Africa.”

Bill Clinton

Ibrahim was convinced. He believed there was a need forAfricans to communicate with each other, just as there was forany other human being anywhere else on the planet. Under themotto ‘Who’s afraid of Africa,’ Celtel started in Zambia andUganda and vowed never to pay a single dollar in bribes. Therest, as they say, is history. When Celtel started, there were some two million mobile phoneson the whole continent. Today there are over 200 million, a quar-ter of which are in South Africa and Nigeria. Celtel now hasupwards of 18.9 million users and 60% growth per year.

The BBC recently reported that mobile phone use in Africa is growingfaster than anywhere else in the world and that Africa is the sole con-tinent where mobile phone use greatly outnumbers the use of fixedlines. And still there is enormous potential room for growth, as by theend of 2006, less than 20% Africans had a mobile phone.

Following his immense success, Ibrahim is determined to bring toAfrica good governance and reward true leadership. Let’s hope,the success of the mobile phone sector in Africa will set theexample in proving skeptics wrong, and show that there is hopefor the continent. Seeing its beauty and overwhelming nature, it’sabout time Africans started to help and govern themselves andthat the continent embarks on a path of enlightenment. ¬

51

Worth $5 million over a period of 10 years, and $200,000annually for life thereafter, the prize will be given yearlyto former heads of state that have shown exemplaryleadership during their time in office

“Mo Ibrahim has started an AfricanFoundation to help Africa move forward,that’s a good example of Africa helpingitself and an important model for movingforward to create growth stability andpeace in Africa.”

Bill Clinton

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

ince Jordan deregulated its mobile phone sector just overa decade ago, the kingdom has achieved the highest pen-

etration rate – and become the most competitive in mobiletelecommunications – of any country in the Arab world. This is nosmall undertaking, and MTC’s Fastlink has been at the forefrontof such telecommunication change in the kingdom.

Fastlink was established in 1995, the country’s first mobile phoneoperator, and in January 2003, MTC acquired 91.6% of Fastlink for$423.9 million, taking MTC’s ownership to 96.5%. By August 2005,MTC had acquired the rest of the company, but three other compa-nies had also entered the market – Jordan Telecom’s Mobilecom,Xpress and Umniah – making Jordan the most competitive mobilephone sector in the Middle East.

The knock-on effects of such heightenedcompetition have been a major boon forJordan. “Jordan is probably the best per-forming market in the region,” says HanaHabayeb, senior consultant at ConnexusConsulting. Indeed, the statistics on Jordanspeak for themselves. The mobile phonemarket is now worth 4% of GDP and out ofa country of around 6 million, Jordan has3.98 million subscribers and a penetrationrate of 73%.

Fastlink controls the lion’s share, with 55% ofthe market and over two million subscribers.

“In Jordan, through MTC Fastlink, we are the largest mobileoperator and have provided the best services to our customersthere,” said MTC’s CEO Dr. Saad Al Barrak.

Fastlink’s contact center, for instance, is one of the mostadvanced in the region, with voice over IP technology and 24-hour customer care handling around 300,000 calls a day. And with some calls costing as little as one piaster a minute, oneof the lowest rates in the region, it is not difficult to understand whyaverage talk time per month in September, October and Novemberlast year was 139 minutes per subscriber.

The launch of the first phase of MTC’s Mobile Village Service,including Fastlink, MTC-Kuwait, MTC-Bahrain and MTC Atheer-Iraq,is expected to boost talk time, with prices unified for each of theoperators and roaming the same price. Local calls in a visitedcountry will be set at only $0.50. Fastlink’s additional phone and

S

‘In Jordan, through MTC Fastlink, we are thelargest mobile operator and have provided thebest services to our customers there’

by Paul Cochrane

52

Fastlink and MTC bring more than just telecommu-nication advancement to Jordan thanks to theircommitment to social programs

Making a difference

53

website services rank with leading global telecommunicationsmarkets. Subscribers can roam around Jordan while watching TVon their mobile phone, and via MMS and SMS posts can blogwith text or photos at the Fastlink Blog website. And 2JD sub-scribers can MMS a photo to Fastlink and within 48 hours receivea message with their picture painted as a caricature – whether asa businessman, football player or bodybuilding champion.

Along with offering ADSL and the Showtime network, Fastlink hasentered the electronic market place with Mazad Fastlink. Just likeeBay, the site operates via an auctioning system where you canbuy or sell any product, from laptops to DVDs and cars to furniture.

To spur on the modernization of Jordanian telecommunications,Fastlink has been continuously investing in the sector, employing1,100 people and spending $255 million between 2003 and2007. Currently, there are 1,700 Fastlink cell sites throughoutJordan, covering 99.9% of the country’s populated areas.Considering some 70% of Jordan’s population lives in urban areas,reach is almost all encompassing. Soft Switch technology, the cor-nerstone of Next Generation Networks, will support the growth ofFastlink’s services throughout the kingdom in the years to come.MTC is also laying down a fiber optic cable from southern to north-ern Amman, and down to Aqaba on the Red Sea coast.

MTC’s presence in Jordan is not all about competitive mobilerates, blogs, auctioning off unwanted CD collections and the lat-est in roll out technology. MTC has been actively involved in sup-porting national efforts promulgated by the government, such asthe Jordan First campaign, to promote social development andboost information and communications technology (ITC) in thekingdom. Such initiatives are already making their mark, with theICT sector now accounting for 10% of Jordan’s GDP. Two newtelephone maintenance centers, costing JD 250,000, will alsoboost the telecom sector through training programs and special-ized diplomas from Telefono.

MTC Fastlink is involved in professional and youth sports inJordan through sponsoring the national football team, the coun-try’s two leading football teams, Faisali and Wihadat, the JordanFootball Association, and the Harat Fastlink Championship. TheHarat Fastlink Championship is an initiative that brings togetheryoung talent from around the kingdom once a year to enhancetalent and encourage aspiring professional footballers. Jordan’sfavorite sport might be football, but Jordanians second sportinglove is basketball, and Fastlink’s basketball team, formed in 2002,has swiftly worked its way to the top after entering the first tier ofthe national league in 2003. Last year, the team seized thenational championships and won the Asia championships.

Alongside sport, education and healthcare are also at the fore-front of MTC’s corporate social responsibilty (CSR) activities inJordan. At the beginning of the year, MTC’s Chairman, Asaad AlBanwan, announced that Fastlink will increase the number of uni-versity scholarships from 41 to 44 a year through its EducationFund. Set up in 2004, the fund will total $2 million over the nextfive years. Some twenty of the grants are earmarked for twentystudents from the poorest areas in Jordan.

In addition to the Education Fund, MTC contributes to the educa-tion sector through the National Museum for Children, an interac-54

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

Alongside sport, education and healthcare are alsoat the forefront of MTC’s non-commercial activitiesin Jordan

tive museum designed to stimulate education and learning. At thehigh school level, Fastlink created the Barra Al-Saff program forstudents interested in sports, music, movies, the arts, and sci-ence and technology. The aim of the program is to develop skillsand create projects at the local community level, whether per-forming music, putting on a show or putting scientific knowledgeinto practice.

At the university level, Fastlink established the Mobile CommunicationsLaboratories scheme. One laboratory, at the Jordan University forScience and Technology, has been supplied with state-of-the-arttechnology to help students come to grasps with the modern com-munications industry. Fastlink Community Digital Centers have alsobeen set up in Maan, Al-Wehdat, Al Baq’a, Al Karak and Palestine.

As part of an outreach program to improve health services inJordan, Fastlink set up a Mobile Children Clinic to provide med-

ical services to remote communities and for people without trans-portation means to reach the capital’s healthcare facilities.Fastlink also supports the health sector through the Towards LifeCancer Campaign, launched three years ago, and by recentdonations totaling JD200,000 to the King Hussein CancerCenter.

In addition to Fastlink’s public services, MTC is working with theMinistry of Social Development to provide financial support andassistance to the underprivileged via the Fastlink EmergencyAid Fund. Fastlink was also involved in raising funds in coordi-nation with Aramex and the Jordan Relief Fund to providehumanitarian supplies for Lebanese victims of the July war withIsrael last year. ¬

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CORPORATE SSPIRIT

he internet and mobile telecommunication have revolutionizedthe daily lives of millions of people throughout the world, affect-

ing how we communicate and do business. Indeed, to most peo-ple with access to telecommunication, we couldn’t think of aworld without our mobile phone or the internet: we are alwaysable to be contacted and to contact others, with masses of dataand information only a click away.

But the disparity between the technology haves and have-nots isextraordinarily wide and getting wider. According to the UnitedNations Human Development Report (UNHDR), industrializedcountries, which account for only 15% of the world’s population,are home to 88% of all internet users, whereas over 80% of therest of the world have never heard a dial tone. In Africa, with apopulation of 900 million people, there are only 14 million fixedphone lines – that is fewer than in Manhattan or Tokyo.

Even if people had more access to the internet, however, aroundfour-fifths of internet websites are in English, a language under-stood by only one in 10 people on the planet. The need to bridgethis digital divide is, therefore, a pressing one, and in 2003, the

UN organized the World Summit on the Information Society(WSIS) in Geneva to confront the challenges countries face inintroducing information and computing technology (ICT). Out ofthe summit came the World Summit Award (WSA) to select andpromote the world’s best e-Content.

Carried out in the framework of the WSIS, the WSA is donethrough national contests, a global contest held every two years,

and numerous content-focused national and international confer-ences and workshops provided through the WSA Road Show. TheWSA’s main goal is bridging the digital divide and narrowing the con-tent gap by working with an associate partner network of over 120professional organizations and through the support of governments,heads of state and international organizations.

The first phase of the WSIS was completed in 2003 in Geneva,where the first WSA Gala was held with participation from 136countries. Less than two years later, 168 countries took part inthe WSA Grand Jury in Manama, Bahrain, where 40 examples of

Making the internet more accessiblearound the globe

Bridging the digital divide

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T

high quality e-Content were selected. Two important outcomeswere generated by the selection process: the right to showcasethe world’s most outstanding examples of excellent e-Content,and a global supporter network.

In November 2005, participants took part in the MTC Group spon-sored WSA Gala for Best e-Content in Tunis. Projects were submittedfrom all countries, but only 40 could be rewarded for innovative appli-cations and outstanding e-content.

“Our cooperation with the WSA, so successfully started during theWinners Gala 2005 in Tunis, has shown an excellent example ofmutually-beneficial cooperation and synergies between the privatesector and a philanthropy-based initiative,” says MTC CEO Dr. SaadAl Barrak, adding, “We believe organizations should focus as muchon social responsibility as on pure business performance. It is

important to MTC that its social and cultural projects have a positiveimpact on the people of all the countries in which we operate. Weare a business, but one that recognizes that we do not live in a cozybubble, cut off from the rest of the world.”

The WSA is having a positive knock-on effect throughout the world.When a WSA Road Show was held in Sudan, software wasinstalled on 200 computers at universities, such as the SudanUniversity of Science and Technology, allowing the university toimplement a new curriculum online and to improve library databas-es. In Bangladesh, the president of the Bangladesh MultimediaAssociation, Mohamed Akteruzzaman, said the presence of theWSA has had long lasting benefits for local business.

57

The WSA’s main goal is narrowing the contentgap by working with an associate partner net-work and through the support of governments,heads of state and international organizations

Dr Peter Bruck (WSA Chairman-left) and Ms Manar Hashash (Kuwait WSA board member-right) presenting an award

“The event had a significant impact on the ICT development inBangladesh, especially of value for small and medium-sizedenterprises, which rarely get such an opportunity for demonstrat-ing what they do, exchanging practical experiences and learningdirectly from concrete examples from all over the world,” he says.

Websites that were recently submitted to the WSA include theReseau Informatique Malien d’Information et de CommunicationMedicale, Mali; Islamweb.net; Educational Development and SupportNetwork for Namibia’s Education Professionals; the Expert Guide toLagos City; Biashara.biz; Sakhr.com; and Bahrain eVisas. Part of theWSA scheme also includes the upcoming “First West African e-Content Summit,” to be held in Benin, centering on the theme“Improving the Digital Lifestyles in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Discussionswill include the planned launch of a “Pan-African Agency for NewMedia” to provide training courses in media management for youngAfricans to help bridge the content gap.

The WSA has also held several conferences. At the end of Novemberlast year, the “Digital Hollywood Europe” conference was held inLondon on entertainment, media and technology economies, with 55different sessions, 350 speakers and a panel of WSA winners. InDecember, the WSA hosted a conference in Dubai on “GovernmentTechnology in the Middle East” to improve intra- and inter-governmentefficiency and services through the use of ICT.

Alongside the WSA is the World Youth Summit Award (WYSA).The WYSA is a joint venture, in conjunction with the UN, betweenthe World Summit Award and the WSIS Youth Caucus. Three e-Content categories are open to applicants under 27-years-old atthe WYSA:

1. Development – rewards the best online platform for youthcentered on issues of poverty reduction, environmental sus-tainability, social justice, health, and peace.2. Creativity and Culture – celebrates the most innovativeonline platform highlighting young people’s potential for produc-ing creative content, promoting multilingualism, creating newcontemporary forms of culture, and preserving indigenousknowledge and traditional culture.3. Community Engagement – showcases the most engagingonline platform facilitating young people’s participation in glob-al, national or local decision-making processes and sharingideas to empower youth and community building.

Winners of the World Youth Summit Award include the work ofAbsinthe Muse in New York, which provides an online outlet foryoung writers from over 30 countries. Such activities, givenrecognition and attention by the WSA and WYSA, are helping tospur on projects to help bridge the digital divide, as well asencourage public-private partnerships to embrace technology.

Visit www.wsis-award.org ¬58

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

Alongside the WSA is the WYSA,a joint venture in conjunctionwith the UN, between the WorldSummit Award and the WSISYouth Caucus

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Hands-on learning – this is the premiseof E-Blocks Learning Table, an ESL(English as a Second Language) teachingsystem developed by a leading Braziliancompany, Positivo Informatica. Created bya team of over 20 experts in just 30months, E-Blocks picked up awards in thee-learning WSA category and is nowbeing successfully used across the globe.The system creates an interactive environ-ment that involves multi-sensory stimuliusing images, sounds and concretematerials. Its constructivist approachmakes learning English both fun andeffective.

“My students have greatly improved theirpronunciation skills and they always lookforward to doing E-Blocks activities,”says Hilda Berron, a teacher at Mexicanschool Mi Mundo.

Even more traditional bilingual schools, suchas Argentina’s St. Andrew’s Scots School,have incorporated E-Blocks into their pro-grams. “The table allows for the develop-

ment of technologicalskills at an age

when eachminute invest-

ed in teaching children is an investment withalmost infinite yields,” explains GabrielRashid, the school principal.

The E-Blocks system works with phonet-ics and teachers can easily use thetables with children whose native lan-guages have other alphabets, such asArabic and Russian. In EastridgeElementary School, in Amarillo, Texas,there are up to eight different languagesspoken by students from countries asdiverse as Laos, Iraq and Somalia. “Ibelieve E-Blocks tables present anopportunity for authentic learning,” saysLinda Vaughn, the school principal.

LEARNING WHILE PLAYINGThe E-Blocks system features a portabletouch-sensitive panel for students to placethe blocks that come with letters, words,numbers and figures. The panel connectsto the classroom computer that runs thesoftware. Groups of six children rangingfrom ages four to 10 learn to identify letters,spell words and build sentences in Englishthrough hands-on group interaction. Thisinteraction also promotes socialization andcooperative learning.

“I use it with English languagelearners in first and secondgrades, who arealways enthusiasticand motivated to

use E-Blocks,”

says Lidiana Triya-Lobaina, ESOLresource teacher from Ada MerrittElementary School, in Florida..

READING, WRITING ANDVOCABULARYThe system can be used for both teach-ing ESL as well as for introducing chil-dren to phonics in kindergarten classesand pre-schools. There are five levels,each with 10 to 20 lessons. The com-plete program includes the active prac-tice of a vocabulary with 1,200 wordsand expressions, from which the teachercan choose either North American orBritish pronunciation.

The E-Blocks package also includesworkbooks, audio CDs, picture flashcards applied to introducing new words,a list of activities and a teacher’s guidewith step-by-step suggestions on how touse and get the most out of the system.Easy to use, the E-Blocks Learning Tablerequires hardly any prior knowledge ofeducational technology and allows teach-ers to tailor the material to the character-istics and specific needs of pupils.

For more information on E-Blocks visit www.eblocks.net.

MTC is a proud sponsor of theWorld Summit Awards. ¬

Mind your languageE-Blocks Learning Table, the 2005 World Summit Award winner, revolutionizes ESL learning with innovative educational technology

CORPORATE SSPIRIT

TC has been making headlines ever since it acquiredthe pan-African network Celtel for $3.36 billion in April

2005, a major foreign investment for Africa and in the global tele-com sector. MTC made further waves in the telecommunicationsector last September through the launch of the One Network inKenya, Tanzania and Uganda – the world’s first ever borderlessmobile network that allows customers to roam without any extracosts. The undertaking is a major achievement in terms of over-coming regulations that hamper cross-border communicationand typically drive up costs.

“Each country has a different Value Added Tax (VAT) regime andall the countries want to make sure that they get their VAT oneach call,” explained Dr Saad Al Barrak, MTC’s CEO .“Then youhave different license fees, you have different levies and specifictaxes on telecoms income but they are different in every country.That makes the whole thing extremely complicated.”

That Celtel were able to overcome these complications can be con-sidered a regulatory coup that even the European Union countries– cooperative to the point of eliminating border checks between EUnations – have not been able to achieve. “At a time when the majormobile telecommunication networks are battling with the EuropeanUnion over the issue of international roaming charges, the MTCGroup has demonstrated how a multi-country operator can act in asocially responsible manner for the benefit of its customers,” said AlBarrak. “The launch of One Network confirms Celtel’s position as themost innovative mobile phone network in Africa. It is a global modelfor the way in which a multi-country operator can innovate to deliv-er real, practical services to its customers.”

The One Network allows customers to make calls between thethree countries at local rates – as low as $0.16 a minute inKenya – receive incoming calls free of charge, and top-up pre-paid phones with local cards. Recharge cards bought inTanzania, Kenya or Uganda can also be used in any of thethree countries.

The network has been a major boost for regional trade, allowingpeople and businesses to communicate more effectively and

Bringing Africa closer together

60

M

Celtel launches One Network , the world’s first borderless mobile network connecting 100 millionpeople in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

The network has been so successful that other EastAfrican telecommunication operators have decided tofollow Celtel’s lead

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cheaply. Indeed, statistics show that the volume of business canincrease as much as 30% through the use of mobile phones.Improvements in regional transportation such as the $5 billiontrain line linking Kenya, Uganda and Sudan that is currently underconstruction also mean that One Network will have further posi-tive advantages for consumers when traveling in East Africa,.

“This major initiative will bring the people of East Africa closertogether. One Network truly showcases African innovation at itsbest and confirms Celtel as the fastest growing brand in thefastest-growing mobile telephone market in the world. In a regionhistorically dependent on freedom of movement across borders,we are now offering a communications solution that fits the needsof our customers, breaking down barriers and making life betterfor businesses, families and individuals,” said Tito Alai, ChiefCommercial Officer at MTC Group.

The network has also been praised as a con-duit for greater geo-political cooperationbetween Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. “We inUganda warmly welcome and applaud Celtel’smobile phone innovation of One Network forEast Africa because it is in line with our ownvision of fast-tracking the political federation ofthe region,” said Uganda’s President H. E.Yoweri Museveni.

The President of Tanzania H. E. Jakaya Kikwetewas equally praiseworthy about the introductionof the network. “We in East Africa have somuch in common in our shared heritage, ourcultures and languages. I congratulate Celtel onlaunching One Network, which will enable mil-lions of people across East Africa to keep intouch more easily,” the president said.

Kenya’s Minister for Information and CommunicationsTechnology, Mutahi Kagwe, also saw the advantages of OneNetwork. “All East Africans can benefit from Celtel’s One Network.It will enable our people to talk to each other easier becausewhere ever they are in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, it will be asif they are at home. This will facilitate East African trade and I wel-come this new product,” said Mr Kagwe.

The network has been so successful that other East African telecom-munication operators have decided to follow Celtel’s lead.

Celtel, however, plans to introduce cross-border networks in the11 other African countries Celtel operates in: Burkina Faso, Chad,the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Gabon,Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia.“Once customers start to understand what One Network willbring to them, there will be pressure from the consumer commu-nity to introduce this further. Then it will be easier once we havedeveloped the concept to add more countries one by one. Thatis what we are trying to do in the next few years,” said Al-Barrak.

Celtel has over 18.9 million active customers in Africa, and is rap-idly expanding in line with the MTC Group’s plan to exceed 70million customers in all its operations by 2011. In the following 6

months after acquiring Celtel in April 2005, MTC’s market capital-ization on the Kuwait Stock Exchange soared from $6 billion to$10 billion, with a current value exceeding $20 billion. MTCjumped from 26th place in The Middle East magazine’s Top 100Arab companies in 2005 to the 12th spot at the end of 2006. ¬

MOBILE LLIFE

hanges in technology are not only altering the wayhumans interact and communicate with one another, but

they are now encroaching on a vocation traditionally dominated byprofessionals with expensive pieces of equipment: photojournalism.Sparking this change are the embedded cameras in mobilephones, allowing amateurs to snap a photo or take video footage ofa newsworthy event that in the past, would have required a photog-rapher or news crew to zip down to the scene to click away. Thereinlies the beauty of such amateur photographers, they are on the spotand able to take pictures as the ‘action’ unfolds – a professionalphotojournalist could simply be too late or denied access, such asduring the attacks on the London underground in July 2005, whenthe area was cordoned off by the authorities.

With an estimated 500 million camera phones in use around theworld, a figure that could rise to 1 billion by the end of the year,as well as millions of digital cameras, there is a huge amount ofpotential amateur photojournalists scattered across the globe.Media outlets have been quick to utilize the potential of cameraphone technology after images taken by citizens were used bythe mainstream media following the underground and busattacks in London and the Asian tsunami. Image resolution mightbe poor and the camera angle not perfectly aligned to be a topclass photograph, but in an image-obsessed world any picture,no matter how grainy, is better than none.

In an attempt to utilize so many potential photojournalists – whatis being called ‘citizen photojournalism’ – the international wire

services Reuters and Yahoo! News, one of the most popularnews websites in the US, have introduced new services to show-case photographs and video of news events submitted by thepublic. This new service comes in tandem with the rise with ‘citi-zen journalism,’ where bloggers and start-up news sites attemptto provide alternative news and views to the more mainstreammedia. But the big players, as Reuters and Yahoo! exemplify, areon the case, with CNN and the BBC also dedicating parts of theirwebsites to citizen journalists.

The big questions for news media are whether amateur photogra-phers should be paid, and whether photographs or films submittedfor publication can be considered genuine. After all, a Reuters’ pho-tographer was sacked last year after digitally doctoring photos

As camera technology continues to improve, new photojournalists are making their mark

Caught on film

by Paul Cochrane

62

C

during the July war on Lebanon last year. As a result, Reuters isnow developing software that will help detect altered photo-graphs. The payment issue is equally tricky. Reuters and Yahoo!have decided not to pay for images displayed on their sites, butphotos or videos that are selected for distribution to Reuters’clients will receive a payment. Exclusive rights to images or filmfootage of major events are also likely to earn the amateur pho-tographer a bit of cash.

A further issue for media outlets is where people will post photosor film footage. As the average person only witnesses an eventthat can be considered newsworthy every 10 years, analysts saypeople will post on sites they have used before, such asYouTube, a website that showcases homemade videos torecordings from TV. As mobile phones become more sophisticat-ed and networks become more available, companies are nowoffering video camera phones that can nearly instantaneouslytransmit moving images over email or onto the internet. This could

mean we will increasingly see more than just two megapixel pho-tographs showing up on the front of newspapers, but mobilephone footage shown live on news channels.

But does all this spell the end of photojournalism as we know it?Commentators think not, as a lot of training and experience goesinto taking a good photograph for one thing, and secondly, aphotojournalist knows what kind of photograph a publication islooking for (it’s rarely just point and click). In fact, journalists arelikely to be given camera phones to be able to take photos thereand then to get the story to editors immediately, rather than hav-ing to lug around lots of gear, download the photos, and thenemail them on.

However, according to a recent report on the world in 30 yearsby Britain’s Ministry of Defense, there could be “declining newsquality” due to the rise of “internet-enabled citizen-journalists” andpressure to release stories “at the expense of facts.” As with alltechnological developments, there are pros and cons, so the“democratization” of news, photojournalism included, might notalways be a good thing.

One thing is clear though, we have entered a new realm of imagedistribution that has been bolstered by the internet and affordablecamera phones. What such technology will be in the future isanyone’s guess, but it is certainly likely that camera phones willsoon have eight or even 10 megapixels, meaning much higherresolution. This translates into the increased likelihood that themedia will continue to use citizen photojournalists to get the storyand the image across to the public. ¬

63

The big questions for news media are whether amateur photographers should be paid, and whether photographs orfilms submitted for publication can be considered genuine

went into operation in 1998, GSM andsimilar technologies were conquering theworld. Iridium, too costly, too few cus-tomers, went into bankruptcy and wasbought out for $25 million. There is no rev-olution without losses.

World’s top-dollar phone compa-nies 2007The world’s largest telecommunicationcompanies in 2007, by a combination offour financial criteria, are US firms AT&Tand Verizon Communications. The largestpublicly traded phone companies by mar-ket value at the end of February 2007were AT&T ($230 billion), China Mobile($185 billion), and Vodafone ($146 billion).

Happy talking! ¬

First MoversThe first known private mobile telephonyrelied on sticks. Around 100 years ago,industry pioneers Lars Magnus Ericssonand his wife Hilda from Sweden packedtheir phone when touring the countrysidein their car. To make a call, they reachedup with wire-tipped rods to hook thephone cables to an overland line.

Phone diet 1: Spectacular weight loss The first commercial analogue mobile phonewas made by Motorola and hit the market in1983 weighing in as an 0.8kg brick thatwould not fit in just any pocket. But the pre-GSM cinderblock was a feathery fantasycompared with the 40kg, 1956 Swedishmobile phone or the 6.5kg C-1 car phoneby German manufacturer Siemens thatdebuted in 1985 at a cost of DM 8,000.

A first worldwide standardAlthough military and commercial mobiletelephony existed from the early 20th

Century, the first worldwide standard formobile communications was defined inthe 1980s by an entity created by

European Postal and TelecomsAdministrations and originally calledGroupe Speciale Mobile (GSM, laterrenamed as Global System for MobileCommunications). In the three years ofwork from 1982, the GSM effort resultedin 5,000 pages of specifications andstandards that formed the platform forthe mobile revolution.

Phone Diet 2: Slim down 87% in a decade: When Motorola and Sweden’s Ericssonreleased the first-ever GSM phones in1992, they put up to half a kilo of gadgetinto your shirt pocket (if you dared storing

64

one there). No such risk 10 years laterwhen manufacturers started producinghandsets in the 70 - 100 grams rangethat is popular for today’s light phones.

66 Satellites: The top mobilecompany flop: A utopian brainchild of the 1980s was theidea to give people around the globeaffordable communications, from any-where, to anywhere. Low-earth-orbit satel-lites (LEOs) were supposed to facilitate aglobal mobile telephony the world hadnever seen (GSM was yet to becomeoperational). Several companies pursuedthe satellite network idea, including a firmcalled Iridium which invested around $6billion into a full global coverage networkwith 66 LEOs. But by the time the service

Trivia to inspire

MOBILE LLIFE

ICONS

Will Apple’s iPodfade into historymuch like Sony’sWalkman?

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs recentlyunveiled the iPhone, it became almostimmediately apparent that the predictions ofsome in the blogosphere had finally cometo pass. By some, I mean those who pre-dicted after 2002 – when Apple introduceda PC compatible iPod – that the history ofthe device as some kind of new bedrock forthe company’s future profitability would be arelatively short-lived one, much like the his-tory of Sony’s Walkman, though on an evenmore compacted timeline.

As one such blogospeculator JamesStoup recently noted, since the iPod’sintroduction to the world on October 23,

2001, the cost per Gigabyte (GB) foreach new generation (there have beenfive and a half for the iPod proper), hasdropped on average by a remarkable33%. The first generation iPod, with thequaint mechanical scroll wheel, wasequipped with only 5GBs, enough for1,000 songs, and cost $80 per GB. Incontrast, the latest iPod, Generation 5.5

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END

66

BY NICHOLAS NOE

introduced in September 2006, comes inat only $7 per GB – and it can play fullcolor video, display photos and run on abattery for up to 20 hours!

“There must eventually be an end to thiscycle,” Stoup argues. “Eventually, thetechnology will progress to the pointwhere digital music players are no longer

$599, the GB price ratio is sure to followthe iPod curve (which started out aheadof the iPhone’s current $75 per GB pric-ing). In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if theiPod’s six years are compacted into atwo to three year curve for the iPhone,after which point Apple may have toagain marshal its tech team and move onto greener pastures.

special devices but rather cheap com-modities.” Stoup and others are now pre-dicting that this breakpoint is fastapproaching for Apple – perhaps assoon as in the next three to five years,after which the price of the componentswill have dropped so precipitously thateven your local TV repairman (or fourth-rate Chinese manufacturer) will have aviable product on the market.

Just like the Walkman, no matter how goodthe later iPod generations get, the companyis set to lose substantial market share whenit comes to digital music players. And evenmore than this, a truly viable competitor forApple’s iTunes Music Store – which recentlysold its two billionth downloaded song – willalso likely emerge in the next one to twoyears (perhaps in the form of an Amazon oreven a person-to-person ecommerce sitelike eBay).

Hence, Jobs’ announcement in Januarythat Apple is, in a sense, leaving the iPod tothe proverbial dustbin of history; leapfrog-ging instead to the more technologicallycomplex and potentially profitable arena ofintegrated, handheld digital devices.

Apple’s logic going forward is clear: Whypurchase an iPod if, for the same or evencheaper price, you can get a digitalmusic player, replace an aging PDA andan aging mobile phone? Although the firstiPhone generation will have a maximumcapacity of 8GB and will cost (in the US)

Still, all this rests on the assumption thatthe iPhone will accomplish integration asmagnificently as it accomplished digitalmusic integration with the iPod andiTunes. If the 2001 to 2007 period for theiPod is any guide, however, the future forboth consumers and Apple is bright. ¬

Apple’s logic goingforward is clear: Why

purchase an iPod if,for the same or even

cheaper price, youcan get a digital

music player, replacean aging PDA and anaging mobile phone?

67

ICONS

Launching the much-anticipated iPhonein the US, this latest offering from thecompany that brought usthe iPod seems to be livingup to all the hype

Apple Mac seem to be able to do nowrong following its momentous re-entryinto the electronics world several yearsago, bringing out new sleek laptops and aproduct that has become a must-have forall music lovers, the iPod portable musicplayer. Apple is at it again, releasing – fol-lowing a great deal of hype and fanfare inthe US at the beginning of the year – theiPhone. A revolutionary mobile phone fea-turing a widescreen iPod with touch con-trols, the device is a breakthrough internetcommunications tool with desktop-classemail, web browsing, maps and searching– all in an 11.6 millimeter frame.

The 3.5 inch 480 x 320 touchscreen dis-play has multi-touch support and a proxim-ity sensor to turn off the screen when it’stoo close to your face, saving energy whenyou are talking. Operated by fingertip, apartfrom buttons that appear on the touchscreen, the only physical buttons are vol-ume up and down, ringer on and off, sleepand wake and a ‘home’ button. Comingwith either 4GB or 8GB of storage, thephone has a two-megapixel camera,Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFithat automatically engages when in rangeand quad-band GSM radio with EDGE.

With Apple filing over 200 patents relatedto the technology behind the iPhone, all of

the above is impressive enough comparedto other mobile phones on the market. But,what Apple hopes will really drive sales –other than the super thin, ultra-moderndesign – is a deal Apple struck with Yahoo!that will allow all iPhone customers to hookup with free push IMAP email. The phonealso runs with an OS X system, with sup-ports for Widgets, Google Maps, Safari(Apple’s internet portal) and iTunes withCoverFlow.

According to reviewers, users can see anentire web page on the iPhone’s screen.Users can then double-tap any spot tozoom in or use the two-fingered spread-apart gesture to stretch the image larger,or pinch a thumb and forefinger on theglass to zoom out again. The “rubber web page” stretching tech-nology reportedly allows for easy andpowerful access to maps for directions,or to just surf the web.

Although the iPhone is a quad-band GSMphone, Apple reportedly has plans to make3G phones in the future. According toApple’s specifics, battery life will be fivehours for talk or video, with a full 16 hoursin music mode. The 4GB iPhone will beavailable for $499 in the Middle East at theend of the year, or in early 2008, with 8GBversion retailing at $599. ¬ 68

A revolutionarymobile phone featur-

ing a widescreeniPod with touch con-trols, the device is abreakthrough inter-net communications

tool with desktop-class email, web

browsing, maps andsearching

APPLE MAC DOES IT AGAIN

The next milestone in Dania’s career camein 1996, when Dubai’s Channel V came toLebanon to recruit presenters and offeredDania a position. It was later that sameyear that again, through luck or destiny, anincredible opportunity fell in Dania’s lap.EMI, a record label that worked closelywith Channel V, offered Dania a recordingcontract – without even making sure sheknew how to sing first!

“I don’t know why, but they asked me if Iwanted to record a single. It was like win-ning the lottery,” gushes Dania. The song– Yalla Bina Yalla – became a massive hit,and EMI quickly offered Dania a biggercontract. Her first album, Dania, wasreleased at the end of 1997.

As an international record company, EMIwas able to link Dania up with popular artistsacross their varied catalogue: she hasrecorded songs with artists ranging fromBritish boy band 911 to the Gypsy Kings.These collaborations, along with Dania’sown personal interest in world and fusionmusic, helped develop the international fla-vor Dania is so famous for, drawing on influ-ences from Greece to Latin America.

As her popularity crossed borders, so didDania, as EMI included her in internationaltours. “It’s weird and fun to see peopledancing their hearts out even though they

STAR PROFILEby Faerlie Wilson

E ven as a child, Dania loved to sing andperform – but she never dreamed that her‘hobby’ might turn into a career. Indeed,the story of this young star’s rise to fameis composed of a chain of serendipitousevents: the artist behind such hits as YallaBina Yalla and El Helwa Di might neverhave had the chance to share her formi-dable talents with fans across the Arabworld and beyond, if things had not justneatly fallen into place.

Dania’s artistic talents are not limited tomusic: a gifted painter, the young Daniamajored in fine arts in university, andexpected to make her career in a relatedfield. In her final semester of university,Dania was eager to gain some independ-ence, and decided to look for part timework. The search led her to a small televisionstation in Beirut, which had an opening in itscreative department. However, the dayDania showed up to apply, the channel wasalso holding screen tests for an on-air pre-senter and she ended up auditioning for thatjob instead. “I didn’t know exactly what Iwanted to do, but I knew what I didn’t want:a routine, desk job.”

The channel immediately recognized thepotential of the beautiful, charismatic Dania,changing her life forever. The young universi-ty student, who expected to pursue a careerin painting, was suddenly a celebrity.

The Lebanese chanteuse talks about her riseto the big time

DaniaGetting to know

Unlike manystars today,

Dania is no diva

70

don’t understand the Arabic lyrics. Theyjust feel the song, the rhythms, and forthat moment, you feel like you’re bringingcultures closer together.”

Dania’s biggest hit so far has been ElHelwa Di, an old Arabic song she remixed

as a dance track for her third album in2001. However, the song was actuallyonly added to the album at the last minuteas a bonus track. Dania and her produc-ers instantly knew it would be a hit –though they had no idea of the scale. Thesong topped charts across the Arab world 71

THE DANIA FACT FILE

STAR PROFILE

and became one of the year’s essentialtracks, featured on numerous compilationalbums – it was so successful, in fact,Dania even recorded a second version ofthe song in French.

Throughout her whirlwind career, Dania’sclose-knit family has always been a sourceof advice and support. “At the beginning,they told me to be careful, they asked me,‘Are you sure this is what you want?’ Butthey always supported my decisions 100%,”says the young songbird.

Dania also believes her down-to-earth atti-tude, modesty, and friendly personalityhave helped make her so popular. Unlikemany stars today, Dania is no diva – a factthat shows clearly when asked about herambitions. “I just want to make nice music,

and make people happy,” she explains. “Iwant to push myself further with eachalbum and always present a new twist.”

Her next single, set to be released in early2007, is no exception to the rule. CalledRayah Albak, Dania describes it as afresh, “party” song with a Latin feel.Despite her success in the recording stu-dio, Dania’s popularity has kept her in frontof the cameras as well. In parallel to hersinging career, Dania presents a travelprogram in the UAE, tapping into two ofher great passions: international culturesand entertaining.

“In this industry, some people have every-thing – the talent, the looks, the money – butthey can’t make it. I never dreamed of this, Inever planned for it,” the ever-modest Daniaemphasizes, speaking of her career, fameand success. “I traveled into the unknown.All I can hope for is to be happy in my ownlife, on all levels, and to make others happythrough my work.” ¬

Dania’s biggest hit,El Helwa Di, was

actually only addedto the album at the

last minute as abonus track

Full name: Dania KhatibBirthday: 13 JulyHometown: Chehim, LebanonCurrent residence: DubaiFamily: Three brothersEducation: BA ‘95, Fine Arts, LebaneseAmerican University

Music career:Yalla Bina (1996) – single album

Dania (1997) – PlatinumFiesta (single)Dania II (1999) – PlatinumLeiley (single)El Helwe Di (2001) – GoldEl Helwe Di (single)Best of Dania (2005)Fog el Nakhel (single)Rayah Albak (forthcoming, 2007) – single album

Television Career:1995: Presenter, local Lebanese TV1995-1998: Presenter/VJ, Channel V,Dubai1998-2004: Presenter, Abu Dhabi TV(most popular shows included “Zoom”and “Al Kafila”)2004: Dania and a friend establish theirown production company, Topaz, in Dubai

72

Yoga expert Ghada Ghosntalks about the discipline

needed to guaranteea better way of life

“There are many types of yoga, but Idon’t like to focus on one part of thehuman being – we are a whole, so weshould work on our whole selves. I like aharmony, a balance, between the bodyand the mind,” says Ghosn. “I teachHatha yoga because I’m convinced it is aform everyone can find their needs in.You work on the body to achieve mentaland emotional balance.”

Although a fine arts graduate at universitylevel, Ghosn has been teaching yoga inLebanon for the past eight years. She hasbeen committed to the discipline at a pro-fessional level, however, since the age of25, receiving a degree in yoga from theVanlysbeth School in Belgium, after a rig-orous four-year program. She also lived inan Ashram, a yoga establishment, inNassau in the Bahamas, for a year andreceived the advanced Shivenandah yogadegree. And these are but a few ofGhosn’s credentials.

hen you first meet Ghada Ghosn,who has practiced yoga most her life,

you are at once struck by her graceful pos-ture and youthful appearance. The 44-year–old, who began attending yoga class-es with her mother at the tender age of five,is a certified yoga instructor with decadesof experience and training under her belt,as well as her own 30-minute daily showon Future TV. A lean body, practicallyunlined face and the fact, by her ownadmission, that she rarely gets sick, makesGhosn a walking, talking ad for the differ-ence yoga can make in a person’s life.

So, is yoga more that just an exerciseregime for the extra bendy, a meditationtherapy that requires curious chants andlots of incense? Or is it a crazy cult thathas made religious clerics very nervous?Ghosn dispels the rumors, and separatesthe facts from the very interesting – andat times, bizarre – fiction behind the6,000 year-old practice.74

LIFESTYLEby Anissa Rafeh

Relax – just do it!

W

‘When youintegrateyoga into

your life, youget rid of

bad habitsand reach a

state ofawareness’

A firm believer that yoga provides a well-rounded exercise regime for just abouteveryone, Ghosn maintains that to reapthe benefits of the practice, one needs toattend a two-hour yoga class at least twiceweek. When practiced regularly, yoga notonly provides a form of physical fitness, butalso an improved lifestyle – it can evenlead to resilience to illness. Ghosn explainsthat during her classes, she doesn’t onlyteach mat work, but goes a step further bycoaching students on how to live lifeaccording to the tenets of yoga.

76

“When you integrate yoga into your life,you get rid of bad habits and reach astate of awareness. You become choosyabout everything you do. Eventually, youwill become your own guide, but in thebeginning, you need to gain the knowl-edge,” explains Ghosn, who offers class-es at The SPA (InterContinental PhoeniciaHotel in Beirut) and the Elixir Spa (GrandHabtoor Hotel, also Beirut).

When it comes to finding the right instruc-tor, Ghosn warns that there are many

imposters out there. She advises to firstask if the instructor has a yoga degree, notjust a training certificate. “Someone who isfit physically and bendy can just improviseand become a yoga teacher, which can bedangerous physically and mentally. Whenwrong postures are introduced, this can bevery harmful,” she says.

Ghosn receives particular gratification fromthe fact that more and more people in theMiddle East are getting to know yogathrough her TV show, which is broadcast

LIFESTYLE

Ghosn’s ‘baby’ is her 15 minute relaxationvideo that appears on every MEA flight,

aimed at preventing DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in passengers

via satellite across the region on FutureTelevision. The feedback from her viewersin the Arab world is, thus far, very positiveand she receives a multitude of requestsfor seminars and books from across theglobe. Ghosn’s increased exposure, how-ever, has also caused regional criticismfrom various religious institutions, whichclaim that yoga instruction is against theteachings of certain faiths. Unfazed by thebacklash, however, she became evenmore determined to persevere and shareher knowledge of yoga with as many peo-ple as possible.

Ghosn does not make light of using yogaas a front for cult activity, however, andexplains that there is certainly that threatnow that the practice has become sotrendy. She claims that cults use theyoga name to recruit and brainwash peo-ple. She mentions a yogi master who hasconducted seminars in Beirut specificallyto recruit young university students.“There is a very powerful and very smartcult leader who came here. I went to thefirst seminar he gave here and even Iwas charmed by him, even though Iknew it was a cult. I quickly realized thathe was using the yoga name for his cult,”describes Ghosn. She is quick to pointout that such practices are not the realyoga and one must differentiate betweenthe yoga lifestyle and prayer or worship.“You don’t have to get into Hinduism topractice proper yoga,” she explains.

Even with all the resistance Ghosn hasfaced over the years, her popularity hasgrown. In addition to her morning show,which has been on the air for three years,she is also hosting a new one-hour pro-gram, Alaam al Suha, every Sunday at10am on Future Television, which is alsobroadcast across the globe on the sta-tion’s satellite channel. She is also planningon releasing her first yoga book this yearand is already working on a second publi-cation, which will include lifestyle tips on

how to use yoga in the office and house,as well as for health purposes, includingdiet and detoxification.

Ghosn’s ‘baby’, however, is her work withMiddle East Airlines, which she credits withshowing commendable commitment to thewell-being of its passengers. Since July2006, Ghosn has appeared on every MEAflight with a 15 minute relaxation videoaimed at preventing DVT (deep vein throm-bosis) in passengers. Ghosn also writes acolumn in MEA’s Cedar Wings in-flight

magazine and is working on an audiorelaxation commentary that passengers willbe able to listen to on all flights.

As for her future aspirations, Ghosn is veryclear. “There is something about yoga: youlearn to enjoy the moment. My only aspira-tion is to enjoy the moment the best I can– every single moment in life.” ¬

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because of the country’s coastal locationand proud fishing tradition.

A RICH HISTORYCommonly referred to as black gold orthe king of spices, black pepper has asharp, pungent aroma and flavor. It is oneof the oldest and most common spicesin the world, originating from the state ofKerala located on the southwest coast ofIndia. These dried berries grow on vinesthat reach up to 10 feet in height and arepicked approximately nine months afterflowering while the berries are still unripe.Other sources are found in Indonesia,Malaysia and Brazil.

With every king comes a queen andwhen it comes to spices, her name iscardamom, a rich spice taken from theseeds of a tropical fruit plant belonging tothe ginger family. Valued not only for itsuse in cooking, but also for its medicinalpurposes, cardamom also originatesfrom the southwest coast of India.Although India was the major producer ofcardamom for centuries, it is now grownin other parts of the world, such asGuatemala, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos,

I t’s no wonder that Middle Eastern foodis rich in spices, considering its locationalong one of history’s greatest traderoutes. The Kuwaiti route was slap bangin the middle even though Kuwait thenation, which originated from variousMiddle Eastern tribes dating back to the16th century, wasn’t a spice trading hubuntil the 17th century. Naturally, its uniquecuisine has evolved from this rich her-itage to create a wonderful blend ofBedouin, Persian, Indian and EasternMediterranean food.

Baharat, an all-purpose blend usedthroughout many Arab nations, is themost commonly used spice in the region(the word originates from the word bahar,meaning pepper). There are variations onthe amount of ingredients used in baharat,however, the most common blend con-sists of black pepper, cardamom, cinna-mon, cloves, coriander, cumin, nutmegand paprika. The spice is mostly used toflavor chicken, meat, rice and especiallyfish, the most popular Kuwaiti food staple

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LIVINGby Angela Wintlend

Get spiced!

The rich origins ofsome of the world’smost popular spices

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DirectionsPlace all the spices except the paprika and nutmegin a blender and process until it becomes a powder.Traditionalists may wish to use a pestle and mortar.Grate the nutmeg and paprika and work into thespice blend and then store in an airtight container.

In some areas of the Middle East, the whole spicesare lightly toasted in an oven or a stovetop to bringout the flavors. This not only makes the kitchen smellgood, but brings out the best in your spices.

Mix your own baharatIngredients1/2 cup whole black peppercorns1/4 cup whole coriander seeds1/4 cup cinnamon bark1/4 cup whole cloves1/3 cup cumin seeds2 teaspoons whole cardamom seeds4 whole nutmegs1/2 cup ground paprika

Vietnam, Costa Rica, El Salvador andTanzania. In Arab countries, this intense,pungent, sweet flavored spice is com-monly used to add flavor to coffee, sym-bolizing hospitality and prestige.

Cinnamon is the dried bark of differenttypes of laurel trees, the most commonbeing cassia. In ground form, cinnamonis widely known for its use in bakedfoods, but in the Middle East it is alsoused regularly in savory chicken andlamb dishes. Native to Sri Lanka, cinna-mon is also grown in North and South

80 With everykingcomes aqueen andwhen itcomes tospices, hername iscardamom

America as well as Vietnam, China andIndonesia. With its sweet, woody fra-grance, cinnamon was at one time worthmore than gold and has been associatedwith ancient rituals of sacrifice and pleas-ure. It should come as no surprise thatcinnamon landed in Kuwait, consideringthat it was the most profitable spice trad-ed in the Dutch East India Company.

Cloves are the brown, dried, unopenedflower buds of an evergreen tree in themyrtle family. The name originates fromthe French word ‘clou,’ meaning nail for

the obvious shape it resemblances.Strong, pungent and sweet, this spiceadds depth to a variety of dishes.Originating from the Molucca Islands inIndonesia, a clove tree was planted foreach child born because the peoplebelieved that the fate of the tree waslinked to the fate of the child.

Coriander, which comes from a plant inthe parsley family that originates fromSouthern Europe and the Middle East, isthought to be one of the first spices everused by mankind. With a mild tasteresembling a blend of lemon and sage,this spice adds an exotic element to sal-ads and soups, as well as vegetable, fishand meat dishes.

Cumin, a slightly bitter yet warm flavoredspice, comes from a pale green seed offof a small herb in the parsley family.Originally from Iran and India, cumin iseasy to grow and adapts well to manyclimates. Cumin is widely used in MiddleEastern cooking, most commonly insidedishes, meats, and salads.

Originating from Indonesia and Grenada,nutmeg is a seed produced from a treethat reaches up to 18 meters tall, takesseven years to produce fruit and is fertilefor up to 90 years. This spice has a cit-rus flavor with an earthy tone and ismainly used in desserts in various inter-national cuisines; however, in MiddleEastern cooking, it is also used in manymeat dishes. Historically, nutmeg wasrecommended for ailments, such as badbreath, headaches, and fever.

Last on the list of old world spices isPaprika – originally from South America, itcomes from a red pepper in the Capsicumfamily. Ranging from mild and sweet to hot,this spice is used in many Middle Easterntomato dishes and salads. ¬

LIVING

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FOR TTHE RRECORD

MTC 2006 statsMTC announces a record net income exceeding$1 billion and revenues over $4.1 billion

82

© As of 31 December, 2006, MTC’s customer baseexceeded 27 million active customers* across theMiddle East and Africa, representing a 98% increasecompared to 2005.

© For the full year of 2006, MTC postedConsolidated Revenues exceeding $4.1 billion(KD1.2 billion), a 109% increase.

© During the same period, MTC recorded an EBIT-DA of more than $2 billion (KD 594 million), a 78% increase

*All customer figures in this earnings release represent active customers, those who have made a chargeable event within a 90 days period. MTC hasretroactively adjusted the customer figures accordingly.

© EBIDTA Margin stood at 49% in 2006 comparedto 58% in 2005.

© The Group recorded a Record Net Income of $1 billion (KD 305 million) for the same period, a 68% increase.

© MTC’s EPS reached 85 Cents (247 fils) by theend of 2006, a 36% increase compared to sameperiod last year.

Financial and Operational Highlights

83

*MTC acquired the remaining stake of Mobitel in February 2006; **MTC acquired Madacom in December 2005; ***MTC acquired V-Mobile in May2006; MC = Management Contract All figures represent active customers, those who have made a chargeable event within a 90 days period

Customers

Table 1: MTC Group Customer Breakdown & Market Positioning

MTC Group customers

Celtel Int.63%

Nigeria38%

Rest.23%

Zambia8%

DRC11%

Kenia11%

Tanzania9%

Iraq12%

Sudan10%

Lebanon2%

Kuwait5%

Jordan7%

Bahrain1%

Celtel International customers

Ownership Active Customers Active Customers Growth Prepaid Market (%) (000s) (000s) (%) (%) Positioning

2006 2006 2005 2006

MIDDLE EASTBahrain 60% 233 173 35% 80.3% 2Iraq 30% 3,198 1,073 198% 98.9% 1Jordan 96.5% 1,961 1,757 12% 88.8% 1Kuwait 100% 1,461 1,331 10% 74% 1Lebanon MC 560 509 10% 76.5% -Sudan* 100% 2,754 1,962 - 97.6% 1

Middle East Total - 10,167 6,805 49% 91.33% -

AFRICABurkina Faso 95.7% 518 299 73% 99.9% 1Chad 100% 348 222 57% 99.8% 1Congo Brazzaville 90% 683 378 81% 99.8% 1DRC 98.5% 1,833 1,178 56% 99.9% 1Gabon 84% 514 365 41% 99.3% 1Kenya 60% 1,939 1,840 5% 98.1% 2Madagascar** 100% 331 - - 95.8% 2Malawi 100% 357 199 79% 99% 1Niger 80% 397 223 37% 99.9% 1Nigeria*** 65% 6,396 - - 99.5% 3Sierra Leone 100% 243 178 37% 99.5% 1Tanzania 60% 1,517 971 56% 99.6% 2Uganda 100% 470 291 62% 99.5% 2Zambia 88.8% 1,325 700 89% 99.6% 1

Africa Total - 16,870 6,845 147% 99.3% -

MTC Group Total - 27,037 13,650 98% 96.3% -

84

FOR TTHE RRECORD

Table 2: Financial Highlights

Table 3: Income Statement – Summary

© 6 February, 2006MTC announces full acquisition of Mobitel in Sudanin a $1.332 billion transaction, thus increasing itsstake from 39% to 100%

© 21 May, 2006MTC-Vodafone (Bahrain) launched the region’s firsthigh speed 3.5G service – one of the world’s fastestwireless broadband access technology using mobilephones and Data connect cards.

© 30 May, 2006MTC’s Celtel International acquires a controlling

stake in Vee Networks (V-Mobile) in Nigeria for$1.005 billion. The transaction was Celtel’s largestever deal and increased MTC’s customer base byover 5.5 million while allowing it to tap into Africa’smost populous nation with some 140 million people.

© 27 September, 2006Celtel International launches One Network inTanzania, Kenya and Uganda – the first ever border-less mobile network in the world allowing customersin East Africa to move freely across geographic bor-ders using local tariff rates and recharge cards with-out paying for incoming calls.

Key Operation Events of the Period

Financial Results

Consolidated Results 2006 2005 Annual GrowthCurrency $ KD USD KD

Revenues (millions) 4,168 1,210 1,982 580 109%EBITDA 2,045 594 1,142 334 78%EBITDA Margin (%) 49 58 -Net Profit 1,050 305 636 182 68%EPS 0.85 0.247 0.62 0.182 36%

Consolidated Results (KD m) 2006 2005 Annual Growth

Revenues 1,210 579 109%Cost of Sales 187 91 107%Gross Profit 1,023 489 109%Operating, General and 452 214 111%Administrative Expenses

EBITDA 594 334 78%EBITDA % 49% 58% -Interest Income 18.3 5 296%Gain from Currency Evaluation 3.4 5.2 (35%)Net Profit 305.3 181.9 68%

85

© 26 July, 2006MTC signed the general syndication agreement for the$4 billion credit facility to be used to fund MTC’s futureacquisitions and general corporate needs.

© 06 December, 2006A $1.2 billion Murabaha facility was successfullysyndicated and oversubscribed for MTC.

Key Financial Events of the Period

Table 4: Balance Sheet – Summary

Consolidated Results (KD m) 2006 2005

Current Assets 692 394Non-Current Assets 2,785 1,662Total Assets 3,477 2,056Current Liabilities 1,043 489Non-Current Liabilities 947 348Shareholders’ Equity 1,365 1,186Minority Interest 122 33Total Liabilities and Equity 3,477 2,056

Table 5: Cash Flows – Summary

Consolidated Results (KD m) 2006 2005

Net Cash from Operating Activities 795 283Net Cash from Investing Activities (996) (923)Net Cash from Financing Activities 360 778Net Increase in Cash and Equivalents 159 138Cash and Cash Equivalents at end of Year 474 293

MTC Group revenues* (2006)

Celtel Int.49%

Celtel Int.29%

Kuwait19%

Kuwait33%

Jordan10%

Bahrain1%

Iraq2%

Lebanon1%

Sudan16%

Sudan24%

Bahrain3%

Lebanon1%

Jordan12%

MTC Group net profit (2006)

*Iraq is not consolidated

dropped it in my haste to find cover duringan Israeli bombardment only to have a col-league step on it. At the end of the war, Iput it out of its misery and it joined its pred-ecessors in a drawer in my office.

My latest phone is a Sony EricssonW801i. It feels more substantial than otherphones, although it is only marginally big-ger. But it puts its predecessors in theshade in terms of specs: digital video, stillcamera, MP3 player. It also hooks up tothe internet via GPRS and is Bluetooth-enabled. Seven months after I bought it, Iam still learning all it can do.

Granted, mobile phones may be a nui-sance at times, but how did we evermanage without them? ¬

LAST WWORD

I have a love-hate relationship with mymobile phone. As a journalist, it is a vitalpiece of my reporting kit, enabling me tocontact sources, conduct interviews andfile stories over the internet. But it alsomeans that there is almost no escapefrom the demands of harried editors, therequests of television and radio stationsfor immediate interviews as well as all thepredations of the other pesky peoplewho fill our lives.

I have been a mobile phone user for 10years now. My first phone was a NokiaNHE-4NX handed to me by an editor touse in case I ran into trouble while on areporting assignment in South Lebanon ina period of heightened Israeli attacks. Itwas a clunky lump of plastic with a spindlyretractable aerial and thick rubber buttons.Low specs for sure, but at least in the mid1990s, a mobile phone felt like a phone.

My next phone was about half the size, aNokia 6100. I never really took to thisphone - it was simply too small and fiddly.But it did allow me to connect to the inter-net via my laptop for the first time.

86

Me and my mobile phone...Nicholas Blanford

Nicholas Blanford is Beirut correspondentfor The Times of London

Suddenly, I could sit on a hill in southLebanon and file my dispatch from mylaptop with the press of a button. No moretedious dictations over the phone.Gradually, I embraced the communica-tions revolution, buying successively moresophisticated PDAs and accessories sothat by 2003 I could write articles on myPalm and use an infra-red beam to con-nect to the Nokia to email the story.

The phone’s greatest moment - and ulti-mate demise - came during the Hizbullah-Israeli conflict in summer 2006. I spent thewar in Tyre, south Lebanon, and I canbarely recall a moment when the phonewas not clamped to my ear. The Israelisjammed all cellphone signals in the borderdistrict - even my Thuraya satellite phonewouldn’t work - and I lived in dread that thejamming would reach Tyre. Having had thephone for nearly six years, it was beginningto weary as the conflict dragged on. Thecasing was cracked and the battery need-ed charging every few hours. It becametemperamental, switching itself off for noapparent reason - usually in the middle offiling the day’s stories. It didn’t help that I