MUSCAT // Mobile telephone providers have been accused of exploiting religious sentiment by sending automated religious text messages asking customers to forward the messages to other users in a bid to increase profits, according to Omani telecommunications experts. Telecom companies, however, have strongly denied any involvement in the messages.
Anonymous texts such as "Remember to do good to all your fellow Muslims today and you will be blessed with eternal good fortune", are received by subscribers at least once a week. The messages then end with the words: "Forward this message to 10 people to earn the rewards of afterlife."
"These kinds of messages that exploit the religious sentiments of people are sent by telephone operators to boost their profits," said Ahmed Abry, a 31-year-old IT engineer who works as a government consultant for telecommunication network expansions.
On average, a text message costs .001 Omani Rials (Dh.001).
Mr Abry claims that phone companies set pre-arranged automatic messages that are sent out to random subscribers, though he does not say which telecom operator may be responsible. "The clever thing is that phone companies mask the sender of these messages and no one is able to trace the original text," he said.
In 2006, the government ended the monopoly of state-run Omantel as a sole provider of telecommunications services in Oman when a Qatari majority-owned firm, Nawras, was awarded a licence to be the second telephone company in Oman. The move has since opened up intense competition with six operators vying for three million mobile phone subscribers.
All telephone companies in Oman, when contacted, denied the accusations of sending the messages. A spokesperson for Omantel described the accusation as "ridiculous" while a Nawras official said: "It is absurd to suggest telecom companies in Oman are involved in such a scam."
Bu Hamed Farsy, a 52-year-old electronics technician who has made several complaints to Oman's telecom companies, does not believe them and says they are exploiting the piety of Omanis.
"The majority of Omanis, especially those living in the smaller towns, are deeply religious. They don't think twice to forward these questionable messages to other people, said Mr Farsy.
"For them, it is part of 'Daw'ah' that helps propagate the words of God to all." Da'wah in Arabic means to invite to do something. When it is used in conjunction with Islam it is understood to mean "Inviting to the way of submission and surrender to Allah", according to some Islamic texts.
But Mr Farsy said some messages go a step further and beyond the "border of decency". "They put the fear of God in you to make sure you forward them immediately with a threatening last line," he said. The last line of one message, according to Mr Farsy, reads, "If you do not forward this message then something bad will happen to you".
But not all the recipients of such messages take them seriously.
"I know it is a scam," Haneefa Ramadhan, a 26-year-old banker, said. "I just delete the message and I tell everybody not to respond. I also think the government should investigate but I guess it is hard to pin it to the telecom companies. You will not expect them to admit it."
Some Muslim clerics, concerned about the religious text messages, have cautioned the public not to connect them with Da'wah.
"Since we now have a reasonable doubt about the motives of these text messages, then those who consider them as Da'wah must stop thinking that way. And telecom companies must be ashamed of themselves if this is their idea of making money from exploiting people's faith," Sheikh Salim al Amry, Imam of the Al Hail mosque in Muscat said.
Sheikh Salim called for the government to investigate and punish offenders.
"This cannot go on. If the phone companies are responsible then they should not be above the law. Religion cannot be exploited without consequences and it must be stopped immediately," he said.
Oman's telecom watchdog, the state-run Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), said it was investigating the alleged scam.
"We have received some complaints about it and we are taking them seriously. The TRA is looking into it," a TRA official said.
One analyst said the subscriber base in Oman was not big enough to support all six operators and some of them are expected to struggle in the next few years.
"Three million subscribers is never enough for six companies when you consider that the biggest two, Omantel and Nawras, control most of the market for being there first. The rest, which are much smaller companies, will have to employ different techniques to stay afloat," Nitish Kaushik, a telecommunications consultant with Muscat Technology, said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
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MATCH INFO
Qalandars 112-4 (10 ovs)
Banton 53 no
Northern Warriors 46 all out (9 ovs)
Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7
Qalandars win by six wickets
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
The%20specs
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TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Company%20Profile
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The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
All%20We%20Imagine%20as%20Light
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The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****