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Beginning today, two Iraqi mobile telecommunications networks - MTC Atheer and Iraqna - change their names to Zain (www.iq.zain.com) as both operators adopt the new corporate master brand of the Zain Group (formerly MTC), the leading mobile telecommunications operator in 22 countries serving 42.5 million customers across the Middle East and Africa. 

This re-branding follows MTC Atheer's recent attainment of a 15 year nationwide license in August 2007, for US$1.25 billion and its parent company Zain acquiring Iraqna on December 1, 2007, for an amount of US$1.2 billion.

Serving over seven million customers,  Zain in Iraq becomes the fifth Group operation to be re-branded joining the Group's other operations in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Sudan that were successfully renamed Zain on September 8, 2007. 

Dr Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group Managing Director and Deputy Chairman commented:  "In recent years through the provision of essential telecommunication services and extensive community support, both MTC Atheer and Iraqna have played critical roles in the reconstruction of Iraq. Together as Zain, and as one larger operation utilizing the Group's worldwide resources, we will be even better positioned to serve the people of Iraq. Zain's unrelenting commitment to the future prosperity of Iraq goes hand-in-hand with our aspirations of being a top-ten global operator."

The implementation of the new brand will have no impact on the functionality of MTC Atheer's or Iraqna's current pre and post-paid products and services, and customers are not required to re-set their mobile devices or change sim cards. The complete integration of MTC Atheer's and Iraqna's network to Zain in all branding, technical and logistic areas such as shops, distribution outlets, sim cards and recharge cards will be rolled out over the coming months.

Mr Ali Al Dahwi, general manager of Zain in Iraq, said:  "By adopting the new corporate brand name of Zain we have the opportunity to bring the benefits of the depth and breadth of products and services available across the Group's companies to the people of Iraq. Customers will experience and enjoy the same quality of reliability and standards of excellence found in other Zain operations.  In addition, the joining of Iraq's two leading mobile companies with all our experiences to date and combined resources will enhance our capabilities of expanding and upgrading our network across the whole of Iraq."

Iraqi customers will benefit through synergies of the common products and services that are currently offered by the Zain Group and of those that will be developed in the future. For example, Zain Group operations in 12 African countries have already created One Network, the world's first borderless mobile network.

Covering 400 million people across an area more than twice the size of Europe, One Network gives all post paid and prepaid customers the opportunity to move freely across geographical borders in the 12 African countries inclusive of Sudan without roaming call surcharges and without having to pay for incoming calls.

It is expected that the One Network service will be extended to Iraq and neighboring Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in the first half of 2008.  This will give Zain customers contiguous local network coverage stretching from Iraq in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west, a distance of some 4,000 kilometres.

The Zain Group has witnessed exponential growth over the last four years growing from a single operator in Kuwait in 2003 to being a 15,000-employee company offering a range of advanced mobile voice and data services to over 42.5 million customers. The Group's economic and social contributions to the 22 countries in which it operates are both extensive and significant.

With a current market capitalization of US$ 26.5 billion as at January 1, 2008 the Group shares are publicly traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) under the stock ticker code ‘ZAIN'.

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About Zain Group

Zain (formerly MTC) is a leading emerging markets player in the field of mobile telecommunications. The company was established in 1983 in Kuwait as the region's first mobile operator and since the initiation of its "3x3x3" profitable expansion strategy in 2003, it has grown exponentially becoming the 4th largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of geographic presence with a footprint in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and the African continent.

As of 8 September 2007, Zain became the company's new corporate master brand name. Currently, the company is present in 7 Middle Eastern (inclusive of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and 15 sub-Saharan African countries with over 15,000 employees, providing a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services to over 42.5 million active individual and business customers.

The company operates under the Zain brand name in Kuwait, Sudan, Jordan, Iraq and Bahrain. In Lebanon the company operates as mtc-touch. The company plans to commence operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the first half of 2008 under the Zain brand.

In Africa, Zain operates under the Celtel brand (www.celtel.com) currently in 14 sub-Saharan African countries namely: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Celtel is the most successful pan-African mobile network, offering telecommunications services to more people in Africa than any other network. The recent addition of Ghana will expand Celtel's presence to 15 countries once services are launched.

 In January 2007, the Group launched ACE-an implementation strategy to realize the target of its 3x3x3 vision of becoming a top ten global mobile operator by 2011. ACE seeks to extract superior value from existing assets through three main thrusts: Accelerating growth in Africa; Consolidating existing assets; and Expanding into adjacent markets.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC and is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (Stock ticker: ZAIN). The company had a market capitalization of US$26.5 billion on 31 December , 2007.

You can learn more about this press release by visiting - www.zain.com

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