Muscat, 20 July 2012

Nawras, Oman's customer friendly communications provider, is offering a complimentary trial of selected SMS subscription services for the first seven days of the Holy Month. Customers can receive inspirational messages, prayers and verses from the Quran and sayings of the prophets, with the option of extending the subscription for a nominal daily charge.

Al Muhanna Jaifar Al Said, VAS Product Specialist at Nawras said, "In the true essence of Ramadhan, we have combined reflective and inspirational messages with the spirit of giving. The free introduction to the subscription service is another way for Nawras to help customers get closer during the blessed month of fasting and spiritual renewal. The messages are great value and the ideal way to sample our existing pleasingly different subscription services. Customers can choose to receive daily messages including prayer times and quotes from the Quran during this period of religious reflection."

Following seven days of complimentary service, customers can continue receiving recitations of verses, prayers and sayings from the Quran read by Sheikh Mishary Rashid Alafasy for a daily fee of 43 Baisa. One multimedia message (MMS) in Arabic will be sent each day.  To subscribe, customers can send a message with the keyword 'D' to 90920 and at the end of the week, customers will be reminded by SMS that they are subscribed to the service.

Customers can also receive information about the life of the Prophets, in chronological order, by sending a message with the keyword 'Q' to 91936. After the first seven days, there is an option to continue and from that point, messages will be charged at 57 Baisa per day.  Five MMS messages will be sent in Arabic, each week.

In addition, Nawras is giving seven free days of subscription for its Ejaz Al Quran service, containing miracles and facts mentioned in the Quran. The service was previously only available in Arabic but this Ramadhan it has been extended to include English, Hindi and Malayalam. After the free period, the service is offered for a daily fee of 57 Baisa and customers can subscribe by sending a message containing 'E' to 91936.

Customers can also subscribe to receive Islamic ringtones by popular reciters such as Sheikh Saad Al Ghamidi, Sheikh Salah Bukhatir, Sheikh Mashari Al Irada, Sheikh Ahmad Al Hajeri and Sheikh Bukhatir, to name just a few, by simply dialling 1525 on their handset and following the instructions. Subscription is 500 Baisa per month and 500 Baisa for each tune.

Also during the blessed month of fasting and spiritual renewal, customers can subscribe to the Prayer Time SMS service for only 500 Baisa each month to receive a daily SMS with the full daily prayer time schedule for Muscat and Salalah as well as major cities throughout the GCC. The shrooq (sunrise) and Imsak (time fasting begins ahead of Fajir morning prayers) have been especially included for Ramadhan. To get started, customers can send a free SMS with the keyword 'Prayer', followed by a space and the name of the city to 90900.

A member of the Qtel Group, Nawras encourages customers to get closer during the Holy Month. The growing number of pleasingly different services helps customers share the values of Ramadhan with their friends, family and the wider community. Customers can send keyword 'Ramadhan' to 1500 for more information on all Ramadhan SMS services, contact @nawras_oman on Twitter or visit www.facebook.com/nawras or www.nawras.om.

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About Nawras:
Omani Qatari Telecommunications Company SAOG was founded and registered in the Sultanate of Oman in December 2004. It launched its service in March 2005 as the challenger mobile operator in Oman operating under the name Nawras. Nawras was awarded the second fixed licence in Oman in 2009, and launched its international gateway in April 2010, its corporate fixed and broadband services in May 2010, and its residential fixed and broadband services in June 2010. Since 2010 Nawras has been an integrated services telecommunications operator and is currently serving around 2 million customers across the Sultanate. Following a successful IPO, Nawras is listed on the Muscat Stock Market (MSM) under the "nwrs" ticker since 1 November 2010.  Nawras is majority owned by the Qtel Group and also has a number of significant Omani shareholders which ensures that the company is strongly integrated into the Omani society. Nawras has won a number of awards including Customer Service Excellence Award in Telecom Sector 2012 from Oman Customer Care Conference, Innovation in HR Strategy 2011 from Asia's Best Employer Brand Awards, Outstanding Leader from TMT Finance Middle East 2011, Best IPO in the Middle East from emeafinance magazine and Strategic Leadership Award from Global HR Excellence Awards 2011.

About Qtel Group:
The Qtel Group is a leading international communications company, with a significant presence in the MENA region and Southeast Asia, and having a consolidated customer base of 83.4 million as of December 2011. It operates a portfolio of brands including Qtel, Indosat, Asiacell, Wataniya, Nawras, Nedjma and Tunisiana. The Qtel Group's principle activities are mobile telephone services, broadband solutions, digital futures and fibre technologies, serving both consumer and business markets. Headquartered in Doha, Qatar, Qtel Group is ambitiously growing its global business on the basis of its insights into the needs of customers in emerging markets. Qtel Group's ultimate parent company is Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Q.S.C., whose shares are listed on the Qatar Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

For further information please contact:
Julie Amann  
Press Manager    
e-mail: julie.amann@nawras.om   
+968 9510 3669

Shaza Taher
TRACCS Public Relations
e-mail: shaza.taher@traccs.net 
+968 9601 8881

© Press Release 2012