Click here for immediate access to the world's largest Online Archive dedicated solely to the
African and Middle East telecoms market: mobile; fixed and MVNO - articles and data sets for the period July 2002 to date.
When Zain abandoned its expansion plans so brilliantly articulated just a few scant years ago, it begged the question as to whether the expansion plans were simply one step too far, or were there other underlying problems closer to home.
Zain's own previously published data reveals a slow down in Zain's percentage annual growth in the Middle East, falling from 12.4 percent in its peak in 4Q 2007 to 6.2 percent just nine quarters later.
However, things are not as bad as they might first appear, because when the markets involved are examined it can be seen that their overall growth is noticably less than Zain: in 4Q07 the market had a growth of 8.3 percent falling to 5.1 percent. So Zain has actually outperformed its competitors in its core markets.
What is of note that Zain's growth rate in the last four quarters has fallen more quickly than the market as a whole. In the same way, Zain's overall market share - which it has steadily propelled upwards from 23 percent in 3Q 2007 - is now flattening out in 1Q 2010 at around the 32 percent mark.
Source: industry sources, Blycroft estimates c. Blycroft 2010
Zain has achieved closure on the Bharti deal, having finally satisfied the pre-sale conditions of the deal. The deal valued the Celtel operation at USD 10.7 billion on an enterprise basis, and the net cash take proceeds are USD 8.968 billion.
As of Tuesday 8 June 2010 Zain said in a statement that it had received USD 7.868 billion from Bharti, and over the next 6 months, Zain expects to receive up to USD 400 million upon the achievement of certain milestones. The balance of USD 700 million is due one year after completion as per the deal signed on 30 March 2010.
Zain has repaid the USD 4 billion Revolving Credit Facility which the company entered into in July 2006. Going forward, Zain intends to utilise the remaining proceeds to pay dividends and to attend to other corporate matters.
Zain has licensed the use of the ‘Zain’ brand and related trademarks to Bharti in all 15 African operations for an interim period. See 'Half of Zain One Network connects with Cell C' in this issue for how the two are managing the process.
Mr. Nabeel Bin Salamah, CEO, Zain Group, said: "Zain commends its management team for executing this record transaction of this scale, magnitude and complexity to a very demanding timeline in an expeditious fashion. "
UBS Investment Bank acted as lead financial advisor while BNP Paribas acted as co-advisor to Zain on this transaction. Linklaters acted as Legal Adviser for Zain in this transaction.
The deal leaves Zain primarily as a Middle East mobile operator with over 31.4 million active customers as at 31 March 2010, and a presence in 8 countries.
The renewal of mobile operator licences has been a topic of deliberation over the last couple of months. The licences were first issued in 2000 and expire by May-end 2010. These licences play a significant role in boosting fixed line and mobile telephony services in the country.
At a press conference Mathurin Bako, Chairman of the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications (ARCE), confirmed that Zain - which it referred to as Celtel Burkina in its statement - has renewed its licence for a 10 year term. According to Bako, negotiations are on-going between 'Celtel' and the government as regards the payment of the licence fee.
However operator intransigence has seen ARCE excerpt its authority. On 24 May 2010 Telecel allowed its licence to expire and on 25 May 2010 its operations were suspended. However reports suggest that the network was fully operational again on the evening of 28 May 2010.
Telecel is reported to have now renewed its licence to operate the network for a further 10 years. It is the smallest operator in Benin by subscriber numbers with some 745,000 subscribers at the end of 2009.
Although regarded by many as a ‘done deal’, the final exchange of contracts on the Zain-Bharti deal was still awaited at the end of May.
Last week Asaad Al Banwan, Zain’s Chairman, said that Zain’s first quarter 2010 results reflected the Middle East operations, and that the adoption of what it called ‘International Accounting Standards’ had necessitated excluding all of Zain Africa’s 15 mobile operations, except for the net profit. This would imply that the benefits are stated in the books but not the associated dis-benefits associated with the assets, which could result in a distorted view of the business.
The reason given for manipulation the books in this way was that Zain had entered into a definitive sale agreement with Bharti Airtel on 30 March 2010, and so the assets had technically changed hands. The consequence of this is that Zain’s subscriber breakdown for 1Q 2010 has not yet been released, and Zain’s Investor Relations team told AMETW today that they will be published upon closure of the Bharti deal, along with the Earnings Release for the full year (2009) and 1Q 2010.
However, they also confirmed that at the present time there are no plans to publish the Africa subscriber breakdown for 1Q 2010, despite the fact that the Celtel assets were still under Zain management at the end of the first quarter.
Zain Group CEO Nabeel Bin Salamah said last week that Zain will now re-engineer itself whilst at the same time focusing resources on further increasing market leadership in the Middle East, having invested heavily in network expansion in Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan as well as technology upgrades in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Analysts have been predicting for some time that Africa would see a period of consolidation. What many assumed was that it would be the smaller, independent operators that would be picked-off one at a time, rather in the way that Orange has been doing territory-by-territory.
However the start of 2010 has seen a significant shift in the operator power base with Bharti Aircell buying the Celtel assets from Zain, and now MTN pitching to buy the majority of Orascom’s African operations. This is not the first time Orascom has exited from Africa, selling a slew of properties in early 2003, and in the process seeding the Moov operations in Gabon, Benin, Togo, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The Zain deal now awaits the final transfer of assets, although local management is already anticipating the new regime. There are still negotiations required with a hand full of regulators but these are not expected to cause any major difficulties in the setting-up of Bharti Africa.
The sale of the Orascom assets are more problematical. Djezzy in Algeria is the jewel in the crown with a 46 percent market share. However, Orascom’s relationship with government and regulator is poor and Q4 2009 results suffered due to backdated taxes and penalties. Djezzy has seen a decline in market share and ARPU. The government has indicated it would like first refusal on any sale. For MTN, Algeria could be an opening into the relatively high-value Northern African markets where MTN currently has no operations.
However the Algerian government could well put a spanner in the works as Hamid Bessalah, the Algerian Minister of Telecommunications has said that the government has contacted local Djezzy managers, and that talks with parent Orascom would be the next step according to a report by Reuters. Bessalah said Algeria had a plan for the unit once it was under state control, but would not be drawn on whether the plan involved selling Djezzy to another operator.
Algerian Finance Minister Karim Djoudi said on Sunday that the government had not made an offer to Orascom Telecom for Djezzy, although he did say that the State is willing to take 100 percent of Djezzy.
Should both deals be consumated, then based on 1Q 2010 data MTN would consolidate its position as the lead group in Africa with 24 percent of the mobile subscriber market. Vodafone - with its interests in Vodacom and Safaricom - would remain comfortably in second place with a 17 percent share, as does Orange in third place with 11 percent. Bharti enters in fourth place with 9 percent.
Source: industry sources, Blycroft estimates c. Blycroft 2010
In 2009 Vodacom finally lost its top slot to MTN in Nigeria. MTN in turn has been working its way up through the ranks from third spot in 2005 and 2006: taking second place in 2007 and 2008. Other Nigerian notables are Glo which has risen steadily eighth place in 2005 to fifth place in 2009.
Egypt comfortable holds third and fourth slots, with Mobinil taking third place in 2007 and held in subsequent years whilst Vodafone secured fourth place in 2008, and held it successfully in 2009.
Other rising stars include Kenya’s Safaricom that finished 2009 in eighth place, having risen from twelfth place in 2005. Zain in Suden finished in thirteenth slot, having been ranked nineteenth in 2005: this is one of the African successes for Zain. Zain’s Nigerian operation was placed ninth in 2005, and ended 2009 in ninth place, in between times being ranked fifth spot in 2008 before falling back.
There have been two notable entrants into the Top 20. Etisalat Misr which was ranked thirty-seventh in 2008, and finished 2009 in nineteenth place, so placing all three Egyptian operators in the Top 20. Libya’s Libyana was ranked twenty-third in 2006, rising to fifteenth in 2008 before falling back to eighteenth place.
MTN’s South Africa held third spot in the period 2005 - 2006, but has seen its position slip in subsequent years ending 2009 in sixth place.
Given the current interest in Orascom’s Algerian operation it is interesting to see it fall from... [more...]
Bezeq Israel Telecom has announced financial results for 1Q 2010 posting an increase in profit from ILS 608 million (USD 162.42 million) in 1Q 2009 to ILS 642 million (USD 171.50 million). However, the profit was below the average of analysts? estimates, which was ILS 658 million.
Revenue for the quarter also increased 4.4 percent y-o-y to ILS 2.92 billion (USD 780.05 million) in line with analyst estimates.
Pelephone, Bezeq?s mobile phone unit posted a 12.6 percent hike in profit to ILS 259 million (USD 69.19 million). The increased profits in the unit can be attributed to the launch of its new high-speed HSPA network, which helped in increasing the subscriber base to 2.79 million.
Source: industry sources, Blycroft estimates c. Blycroft 2010
For further information on Bezeq, please contact Naftali Sternlicht, Head, Investor Relations Dept, 15 Hazvi Street, 91010 Jerusalem, Israel, by phone on +972 2 539 5441, and by fax on +972 2 500 0410. You can also write in to ir@bezeq.co.il Bezeq is online at http://www.bezeq.co.il/.
Zain delayed publishing its Year-end data - including subscriber numbers by operation - until after its deal with Bharti Airtel had been finalised. Subsequent analysis shows a rapid slow-down occuring in the Zain African properties at a rate greater than its immediate competitors or the market as a whole.
Zain Group saw its Year-on-Year growth fall from 57 percent in 2007 to 49 percent in 2008, and finally to 15 percent in 2009. This compares to the African market as a whole where the growth in 2009 was a respectable 28 percent. Ironically it was the Middle East that had a lower - and comparable - growth rate of 15 percent.
But when Zain Middle East + Sudan is split out and compared to the Zain Africa/Celtel properties, the contrast is quite striking. In the Middle East and Sudan, Zain enjoyed a 35 percent growth in subscriber numbers, which compares starkly with the ex-Celtel operations which only mustered a growth rate of 4 percent.
And when compared to the likes of Vodacom, Vodafone Group, Orange and MTN the contrast is even more marked as Zain Middle East tops the results, whilst the ex-Celtel operation has thje lowest growth. The only Africa/Middle East group with a lower growth rate was Turkcell, which recorded a 4 percent decline in 2009.
Mobile operator mcel has launched a number of new Internet packages under the netmóvel turbo 3G branding. The new packages are prepaid, and are billed on a length of use basis rather than the more traditional data downloaded (megabytes). Subscribers can select packages from 250 to per day through to 2,400 minutes per month with unlimited access.
mcel executive Salvador Adriano said: "The availability of these packages is an absolute novelty in the market, brought once again first by mcel, and represents our commitment in finding permanent solutions that meet the needs of our customers, providing greater productivity for businesses in Mozambique, and reducing the digital gap still prevalent in our country".
mcel claims a subscriber base at the end of March 2010 of nearly 4 million subscribers. mcel currently provides coverage in 120 districts with some 900 antennas, representing 62 percent of the geographical area and over 83 percent of the population. At the end of 2009 Blycroft's Mobile Operator database was showing a figure of around
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has released its Telecommunications markets indicators report covering the period to the end of June 2009. This concludes that at the end of June 2009 there were some 1.38 million mobile subscribers in Bahrain, a downwards variance of about 49,000 on the figures published by mobile operators Batelco and Zain. In turn, this is predominantly prepaid, representing 83 percent of mobile subscribers at the end of Q2 2009.
TRA noted that some 87 percent of international minutes originated from mobile, and that international traffic is still growing rapidly, achieving a 50 percent increase between Q2 2008 and Q2 2009. About 72 percent of international calls were made to South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka in 2Q 2009. Revenues originating from calls to Southern Asian states represented 45 percent of the total revenues in Q2 2009.
By the end of Q2 2009 TRA reported that there were about 230,000 fixed lines compared to 220,000 in the end of 2008. At the end of Q2 2009 there were about 135,000 broadband subscribers of which 118,000 were fixed broadband subscribers. Fixed wireless broadband subscribers stood at 43,000 in Q2 2009. The number of broadband subscribers increased by 23 percent between 2008 and Q2 2009, and some 62 percent of households have fixed broadband. There are about 40 percent of broadband subscribers who had speed of 1Mbps and more in Q2 2009.
Blycroft's analysis of mobile groups in Africa and the Middle East sees MTN comfortably holding its lead position with 15 percent of Africa and Middle East by mobile subscribers, and although signing-up some 26 million new subscribers in the year to both 3Q 2008 and 3Q 2009, this shows as a reduction in the rate of growth from 33 percent in the year to 3Q 2008, to a still impressive 25 percent in the period ending 3Q 2009.
Telecel Faso is powering ten of its base stations in Koudougou with photovoltaic (PV) solar power installations provided by German manufacturer Phaesun. The installations will be completed by the end of March, and will replace diesel-generator sets.
The project is Phaesun’s first in Burkina Faso. It is estimated that the panels will save Telecel some USD 41,000 per installation annually over the cost of running the diesel-generator sets. Phaesun claims that the high acquisition cost will be paid back in a 2-3 years timeframe.
The solar panels are equipped with a remote monitoring system and are claimed to be practically maintenance free. Each system consists of 108 monocrystalline solar modules from ET Solar, batteries from Hoppecke and charge controllers, which were developed especially for telecommunication systems and are particularly suitable for hot regions. Each system has a total output of 9.18 kilowatts.
Kasapa is the only operator to have fully complied with the Communications Ministry’s requirement to print recharge cards locally issued in June 2009 , the Citi Business newsportal has reported.
The Ministry has now issued a 30-day requirement for the remaining mobile operators to submit their plans for the local printing of recharge cards to the National Communications Authority (NCA).
MTN is quoted as saying it has plans to increase the number of local printing companies it is currently using. According to the Corporate Communications Manager, Mawuena Trebarh, the operator was looking at ways to increase the utilisation of local produced scratch cards but needed to address security and quantity production issues. Some cards are, however, being produced locally.
Zain intends to start full-scale local production of recharge cards from this week, having previously sourced
Tigo Rwanda has recently increased talk-time on its 300 airtime voucher card from three minutes to 30 minutes, in order to target students and low income customers. The promotion will be valid for a month.
The benefit of 300 airtime voucher card, dubbed as Tigo300 can be availed by sending a simple message. The operator plans to launch the product across seven universities with intention to extend the duration of the product beyond one month.
As the most recent launch, Tigo is the smallest operator by subscriber numbers at the end of 2009, having achieved a 3 percent market share in its first quarter of operations.
The Regulatory Authority Mauritania undertook a Quality of Service assessment of the the three mobile operators from 28 October to 2 November 2009 in Nouakchott, capital and the largest city of Mauritania, as well as being the administrative and economic centre of Mauritania.
The telecoms regulator classified the operators based on dropped calls and failed connections.
Following publication of the results, Mohamed Hadj Khalifa, Mattel's CEO was quick to note that Mattel was "far ahead" of the other operators, and was the only operator to meet the requirements of the AER with less than 5 perfcent of failures.
Mattel is currently in second place by subscriber numbers at the end of 2Q 2009 with some 739,000 subscribers, after Mauritel with around 1.3 million.
Saud Bin Majed Al Daweesh, the CEO of Saudi Telecom Group (STC), has been selected as the new Chairman of SAMENA Telecommunications Council, a telecom consortium targeting the promotion of telecom innovations in its member regions (South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa). The selection was made collectively by the council?s board members.
The announcement of Al Daweesh?s appointment was made by Thomas Wilson, CEO and Executive MD of SAMENA, during SAMENA's 'Convergence to Istanbul 2009'. Al Daweesh has been a part of the SAMENA Board since 2007.
Under Al Daweesh?s leadership, the council plans to expand SAMENA International Roaming Rates Group (SIRRG), a forum designed to bring single and multi-networks in consensus and voluntarily place price caps on international roaming without facing regulatory hurdles.
Saudi Telecom is ranked seventh by subscriber numbers in Africa and the Middle East, with some 20.1 million subscribers, up from 18.2 million in 3Q 2008. Year-on-year growth stood at 10.5 percent. In the Middle East STC is ranked third by subscriber numbers after Turkey's Turkcell and Iran's MCI.
More than one million customers have signed for mobile banking with Vodafone M-Pesa. Vodacom Marketing Managing Executive, Mr Ephraim Mafuru, told reporters last Thursday that the registration of over a million customers is a ‘milestone’ as the service provides banking facilities for those who otherwise would not have access to them.
Research suggests that some 90 percent of Tanzanians do not have access to banking services. Introduced in Tanzania in April 2008, Vodafone M-Pesa is a service which enables customers to send money anywhere in the country to any person using a mobile phone. The service provides national coverage by creating cash in and cash out points through 2,000 M-Pesa agents.
Mafuru said: 'It is estimated that 11 million Tanzanians solely rely on receiving money from family and friends and that most of these people tend to live in rural areas.'
Vodacom had some 5.9 million subscribers at the end of 2Q 2009 giving it a market share of some 41 percent.
Etihad Atheeb Telecom Company (GO) and Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) have signed an interconnect agreement, which will enable both the carriers’ subscribers to connect with each other and transfer data and voice services among themselves.
The agreement was signed by Abdulaziz bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the chairman of GO, and by Khalid Al Kaf, the CEO of Mobily.
The terms of the agreement authorise connection between switches and linked communication between signalling networks, transport networks traffic routing, synchronisation and interface standards for connectivity.
It also ensures high level of service provided, operations and maintenance processes, which includes network operation, routing management and traffic management, operational testing, safety standards, procedures for billing, call detail records and intellectual property rights.
Daniel Goumalo Seck has stood down as CEO of the Senegalese telecommunications regulator ARTP, according to a report by the Net.T.Ali news portal. According to the report, his dismissal was at the instigation of the head of state, Abdoulaye Wade, following a Cabinet meeting in September. Daniel Goumalo Seck has headed the ARTP since 2005.
He has been replaced by Ndongo Diao, an economist who served as director of sales and human resources at Senegal's state broadcaster, RTS.
Oman Mobile has announced that TV channels are now available via its 3.5G mobile network. The operator claims it is making available the more popular channels including Omani channels from Oman TV, Arabic and English news from Al Jazeera and CNN.
Mobile TV is available for OMR 4.95 (USD 12.90) per month without cap on either channels or hours, or OMR 1.95 (USD 5.08) for one week’s access. It is also offering a pay-as-you-go option.
To activate the service subscribers send an SMS message reading 'TV' to 90005, or they can surf Oman Mobile WAP portal to the Mobile TV page.
Econet Telecom Lesotho has announced the launch of two-way e-mail to its mobile subscriber base with ForgetMeNot Africa. The service is via any mobile phone, and so greatly extending the population's access to e-mail. According to the International Telecommunication Union only 3.4 percent of the population use the Internet.
It is claimed that Econet Lesotho is the first African mobile operator to enable their entire subscriber base to send and receive e-mail via ForgetMeNot Africa's Message Optimiser service. The service, which goes live on 28 September 2009, does not require the end user to have any Internet access, device upgrades or application downloads.
Mpine Tente Head of Department Retail and Customer Service of Econet Telecom Lesotho said: "We are proud to be one of the first companies in Africa to significantly improve the population's access to email via ForgetMeNot Africa's Message Optimiser service which opens up e-mail communications to our entire subscriber base irrespective of what phone they are using. Our mobile phone customers can now use e-mail….for the cost of a local SMS. Message Optimiser sends and receives emails via SMS to any mobile phone."
ForgetMeNot Africa specialises in unified messaging for operators. Its Handset Initiation (HI) technology by-passes the need for Internet access and opens up the service to all mobile phone users, even those in remote areas.
Jeremy George, Chief Operating Officer of ForgetMeNot Africa commented: "Currently Lesotho's population has to share access to a little over 2,000 PCs connected to the Internet, most of which are in urban areas. Availability of smartphones, laptops and even fixed line Internet connections is very low for this highly literate country."
Econet does not published subscriber numbers for its Lesotho operation, although Vodacom claims it has a market share of 80 percent and reported that it had some 547,000 mobile subscribers at the end of 2Q 2009, which by extrapolation would give Econet around 137,000 subscribers. Informed sources suggest the number may actually be lower, at around 122,000.
On Monday Partner Communications announced that it has also submitted a bid for 100 percent of MIRS Communications Ltd. from Motorola Israel Ltd. Bezeq, Israel's largest telecom group, said on Tuesday its mobile unit Pelephone, the country's third-largest mobile operator, had also submitted a bid.
Cellcom, Israel's largest mobile operator, is also putting a bid in. None of the companies have disclosed the value of their bids. MIRS is a mobile operator that uses iDEN technology and whose market share is estimated at around 4 – 5 percent, which would give them around 431,000 subscribers at the end of 2Q 2009.
In June, it was reported that Shamrock Holdings, the investment arm of Roy Disney, was in talks to buy MIRS at a company value of some USD 300 million. Other interested parties include 012 Smile.Communications and French businessman Patrick Drahi.
Meanwhile, Motorola Israel is reportedly planning to levy a penalty of ILS 50 million on the bid winner of MIRS Communications Ltd, if the company fails to get regulatory approval from the Israeli Ministry of Communications (MoC) and the Antitrust Authority.
However, the bidders apparently view this requirement as null and void, and in turn are setting their own conditions, including making bids subject to a valuation of MIRS following the announcement of the final winner.
The deadline for bidding for 100 percent stake in MIRS was 21 September 2009.
Further to last week’s item that Madagascan ‘new boy’ Madamobil had been asked not to exhibit at this month's International Exhibition of Innovations Technology (SITT), Henri Randriamandrato, Head of Communications for Madamobile has confirmed that Madamobil has indeed obtained its license in August 2008, after it was formally transferred from Intercel, a failed operator.
The process of transfer of the license was completed in August 2008, and Madamobil has been building its network with the expectation of launching commercial services in the fall of 2009.
Madamobil is the corporate name, and Life is the brand. Randriamandrato told AMETW: "The license allows Madamobil to deploy and operate CDMA 2000 voice and 1X/EVDO data on 800Mhz".
He added: "Final permission to operate in Madagascar is not needed, as the license is fully valid and allows us to launch as and when we are ready". The licence is valid for 10 years.
At the end of 2Q 2009 Orange was the dominant mobile operator with some 2.1 million mobile subscribers; followed by Zain with 1.4 million and Telecom Malagasy with around 1.1 million. Mobile penetration stands at around the 23 percent mark.
Vodafone Qatar announced on 16 September 2009 that it had signed-up some 100,000 subscribers since the launch of services 2 months ago. Approximately 50 percent opened a Freedom account, which is Vodafone’s Post-paid equivalent product. The other half signed for RED, Vodafone’s new Pre-paid service which was launched earlier this month.
New subscribers are able to enrol at retail stores across Qatar and in over 500 partner distribution outlets. Over 30 percent enrolled at Vodafone’s Online Store.
Grahame Maher, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Qatar said: "We are thrilled by these amazing results which are exceeding our expectations and targets."
Megafon, one of the leading mobile phone carriers in Russia, has reportedly been awarded the third mobile phone licence in Iran. In the past, the licence has been awarded and cancelled twice.
In January 2009, the country had granted the licence to a consortium of UAE-based Etisalat and Iran-based Tamin Telecom. However, their licence was revoked and later granted to Zain due to non compliance of collateral and non payment of the licence fee on time. Later, due to non-fulfilment of licence obligations by Zain, its licence was also cancelled.
At present, state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) and Irancell are the two major mobile phone carriers in the country. At the end of 1Q 2009, TCI had a subscriber base of 30 million and a market share of 60 percent, while Irancell had a customer base of 18.3 million customers.
Bayan Jabor, the finance minister of Iraq, revealed that the Cabinet has permitted the auction of two new mobile phone licences, of which one will be for a 3G network. He stated that the proceedings for the launch of the licence tender are expected to begin soon.
At present, Zain, Korek and Asiacell are the three mobile phone carriers in the country. However, it is claimed that the quality of service provided by them has not been up to the mark. The new entrants are likely to be mandated to raise service quality.
In the past, Turkcell and Etisalat have shown interest in entering the country’s mobile phone sector and are viewed as prospective bidders.
Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. is in talks with several interested parties to sell its stake in Partner Communications Ltd., the second-largest Israel-based mobile service operator.
Hutchison holds a 51 percent stake in Partner Communications, which according to Bloomberg is worth USD 1.3 billion.
Li Ka-shing, the owner of Hutchison Telecommunications, is looking to exit the saturated markets and invest in the budding Southeast Asian countries. The mobile phone penetration in Israel stood at 128 percent at end-2008.
Scailex Corp., a Tel Aviv-listed company, is one of the parties interested in the acquisition. Analysts believe that Shaul Elovitch, the chairman of Internet Gold-Golden Lines Ltd. might also be interested in the stake since the company seeks to diversify into other telecom services.
For more information about Partner, visit www.investors.partner.co.il. You can also contact Alan Gelman, Chief Financial Officer, by telephone on +972-547-814-951, by fax on +972-547-815-961 or by email at alan.gelman@orange.co.il. Alternatively, you can contact Dan Eldar, VP Carrier, Investor and International Relations, by telephone on +972-547-814-151, by fax on +972-547-814-161 or by email at dan.eldar@orange.co.il.
Afghanistan’s mobile phone carrier Roshan has signed a deal with Afghan Telecom, allowing it access to the latter’s National Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) Backbone Ring Network. The deal will enable Roshan to maintain additional network capacity to add new subscribers.
The OFC Backbone project was initiated in April 2007 by Afghan Telecom and The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT). On completion, the project will link 68 cities in 17 provinces of the country and offer high-speed and high-capacity telephony, and Internet and video services.
The deal between Afghan Telecom and Roshan marks the first instance when the OFC capacity is being leased. In future, more such deals will also be encouraged between Afghan Telecom and other organisations operating in Afghanistan.
Roshan is currently the largest mobile operator by subscriber numbers with some 3.3 million active users at the end of 1Q 2009.
The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has suggested that the government should remain cautious while proceeding with the partial privatisation of the Zambia Telecommunications Company (ZAMTEL). Leonard Hikaumba, ZCTU president, said that the government should ensure that all the key stakeholders are fully satisfied with the procedure for privatisation.
Hikaumba added that the telco needs a capital injection to meet the current industry demands. Moreover, the new investor should guarantee that it will work in accordance with the country’s labour laws.
In March 2009, Garry Nkombo, a Mazabuka central member of parliament had requested the government to recover all the debts owed to ZAMTEL by various government and private entities before starting the privatisation process. According to Nkombo, debt recovery will make the company more attractive and credible for investors.
Dora Siliya, communications and transport minister of Zambia, stated that Zamtel had receivables worth ZMK 749 billion (USD 136.18 million) at the end of December 2008, and the figure has increased since.
Currently Zain is the dominant mobile player in Zambia with some 2.7 million subscribers at the end of 1Q09, foolwed by MTN with 778,000. Zamtel's mobile operation is in third place.
Ernst & Young has published a study entitled ‘Africa connected: A telecommunications growth story’ in which it concludes that operators entering Africa for the first time will find the market "challenging," and concluding that: "established operators already have the business processes required to operate a successful network which will be hard to replicate."
The study took detailed soundings from 28 major operators, and found that market position across the continent is considered the key to survival. The primary focus for operators is the acquisition of subscribers, and this trend is likely to endure for the next few years as more licenses become available and both existing operators and new entrants race to grow market share.
The study also highlighted how operators with African experience have a marked advantage over new entrants. It pointed out that mastering the complexities in dealing with multiple regulatory environments and rolling out and maintaining infrastructure in challenging environments takes time.
Most countries already have one of the major regional or global operators present, so new entrants will probably have to compete directly with an established player. The study concluded that those countries that have established independent regulators and have switched to unified licenses will have an advantage.
Even with the current economic downturn, it is expected that the African telecommunications market will continue to grow faster than any other region over the next three to five years. E&Y see voice remaining the biggest revenue generator in the medium term, but the arrival of submarine cables will see data beginning to play a larger role.
Ernst & Young noted that there are still substantial differences between individual countries, and that the countries it classified as ‘emerging’ represent the greatest interest. An instance of this is seen by the interest generated by the privatization of Mali’s incumbent operator Sotelma. Angola has seen an annual GDP growth rate of 20 percent with mobile penetration growing from 14 percent in 2006 to 31 percent in 2008. The study suggests that the Angolan market will double its penetration rate over the next two years.
To help readers to indentify those markets classified as ‘emerging’ and ‘virgin’ Blycroft has compiled an invaluable Africa and Middle East Telecoms Market Opportunities 2009 Wallchart that shows mobile penetration, net additions and GDP state-by-state using 4Q 2008 data and is now available for purchase.
An innovative new technology will is soon to be deployed in Burkina Faso to increase and improve Internet access. The new system will primarily target business customers and will use a wireless microwave transmission. The provider, a Senegalese company called Connecteo, has already deployed its system in Cameroon, Guinea, Benin and Niger. Connecteo uses a radio wave system by DragonWave Inc, a Canadian company.
In a press release, DragonWave explain the benefits of its technology: "Physically, it requires very little space and has low evergy: characteristics that make it ideal for deployment in the corporate world. Futhermore, because it feeds through the came Cat5 cable that provides the broadband service, it provides littles disturbance in the promotion of cable management and power systems."
The technology is said to be very cost effective in countries with poor connectivity and the deployment in Burkina Faso is hoped to provide up to 50 Mps of broadband access, with the option of raising the speed to 400 Mps.
Jean Michel Rouylou of Monaco Telecom, who own Connecteo, hopes that the deployment of this new system will speed up the progress of the telecoms market:
"The demand for broadband access throughout West Africa is very, very high....Network costs traditionally have slowed progress in this market, DragonWave products are helping to eliminate much of this problem."
MTN has reportedly acquired a 60 percent stake in UUNET Kenya, a corporate communications solutions firm. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Nozipho January-Bardill, the group executive for corporate affairs at MTN, declined to comment on the acquisition. Bardill stated that the company is seeking opportunities to expand operations across emerging markets.
However, Kenneth Kareithi, a UUNET Kenya spokesperson, confirmed the deal. With this acquisition, MTN aims to directly compete with competitors like Safaricom.
Although in 2004 and 2007 the South African company made failed attempts to enter the Kenyan telecom market; it did not lose interest in the region.
For further information about MTN, please contact the company in Cape Town (South Africa) on +27-214-017-400 or visit http://www.mtn.co.za
Vodafone Qatar’s QAR 3.4 billion (USD 930 million) initial public offering (IPO) has been fully subscribed. ictQATAR, Qatar’s telecommunications regulator, awarded the second mobile phone licence to the subsidiary of the UK-based Vodafone Group and Qatar Foundation consortium for QAR 7.72 billion (USD 2.12 billion) in December 2007.
As per the terms of the licence, the carrier had to offload 40 percent of its stake through an IPO. The IPO was open to only Qatari citizens, through which the carrier offered 338.1 million shares at a price of QAR 10 each. The IPO was launched on 12 April and was open till 26 April. The carrier said that further details regarding the allocation of the shares will be released by 10 May.
For more information on Vodafone Qatar visit http://www.vodafone.com.qa/
At the end of 2008 mobile penetration stood at an impresssive 179 percent, driven by Qtel with a subsriber base of 1.68 million.
Luc Missidimbazi, a reporter for the online journal www.congopage.com has revealed that while mobile telephone communications are blooming, much of the Congolese population are still unable to access an affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet connection. The country is still ranked among the least technologically advanced in Africa, five years after a summit in Tunis where the head of the Congolese State expressed his desire for his nation to "combat the digital divide."
The cost of an internet connection at home is prohibitively expensive for the majority of the population at CDF 500,000 (USD 607.16) for 128k access, 10 times the salary of a Congolese worker, leaving Internet cafes as the only available alternative. However, he claims that the cost of connecting in an Internet cafe comes to CDF 1000 (USD 1.21) per hour, making it CDF 30,000 (USD 36.43) a month to check e-mails daily.
Aside from the financial problems, there is also a distinct lack of technological advances in Congo: those who can afford a connection are working with an internet speed equal to that used by France 15 years ago, and by those in Senegal 6 years ago. This obviously has a knock-on affect within the economy since economic and commercial developments cannot harness the benefits of the digital age. Nor can they take advantage of the enhanced communication provided by the Internet that is required to build up social and economic networks across the country.
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) of Egypt has objected to the tender offer placed by France Telecom (FT) to buyout the remaining 49 percent stake in the largest mobile phone carrier in Egypt, Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS), operating under the MobiNil brand.
The CMA cited a very low starting-offer as the reason for its objection, stating that the offer price was not fair to the company’s minority shareholders, which includes a 20 percent stake of Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and 29 percent in free float shares.
Recently, The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favour of FT in a dispute between the carrier and OTH regarding the complete buyout of Mobinil Telecom, a holding company with a 51 percent stake in ECMS. As per the ruling, OTH was asked to sell its stake in Mobinil Telecom to FT.
The ruling entitled FT to hold a controlling stake in ECMS. Following the acquisition of a 51 percent stake in ECMS, FT also revealed its intentions to buy the remaining stake. However, with the recent disapproval of the CMA, FT’s plans to fully control ECMS might go for a toss. The CMA wants FT to offer the same per-share price to the remaining shareholders of ECMS that it offered to OTH as per the arbitration court’s ruling.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2009 Blycroft Ltd
According to a report by online newspaper 'Le Messager,' a revision of a law passed in July 1998 obstructing mobile operators from offering internet services is currently being discussed by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTAL).
Currently, the law states that a company that provides mobile telephone services may not also offer Internet services. This law saw MTN create a new sister company, Mtn Network Solutions, in order to expand its services. Minister of Posts and Telecommunication, Bello Bouba Maigari, says that his department is inundated with requests from operators for licences to provide mobile Internet. Recent technology advances are such that mobile and Internet services cannot be so easily separated and the government has awoken to this fact.
The Ministry hopes that changes to the law will allow Cameroon to catch up in the technology stakes and increase the use of broadband Internet nationally.
Zain, the Kuwaiti mobile phone giant, has formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV)—Zain Al Ajial—with Al Ajial Investment Fund Holding to invest MAD 2.85 billion (USD 324 million) in exchange for a 31 percent stake in Wana Corporate, a Morocco-based telecom incumbent and a subsidiary of Moroccan conglomerate ONA.
Wana was recently awarded the third nation-wide 2G mobile phone network licence by the Telecoms National Regulation Agency (ANRT) for 15 years. Currently, the carrier offers restricted mobility wireless services, CDMA mobile services, fixed-line and Internet services; the licence will enable it to compete on an equal ground with the other two mobile phone carriers in the country—Maroc Telecom and Meditel.
The Moroccan carrier will use the funds to launch its GSM operations in the country. Moreover, Zain will help Wana increase its operational efficiencies to launch these services by end-2009.
Zain and Wana will also sign an operating framework agreement to enable the latter to leverage Zain’s pioneering ‘One Network’ services along with other products.
Saad Al Barrak, the CEO of the Zain Group, views Morocco as a potential growth opportunity with its 70 percent mobile penetration rate.
The government of Iraq has mandated three mobile phone carriers, Zain, Asiacell and Korek Telecom, to list their shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange by the end of 1H 2010. This step would increase the value of shares threefold on the country’s stock market.
According to Basil al-Rahim, the managing partner of MerchantBridge, a London-based investment firm that owns a 19 percent stake in Asiacell, the market valuation of Zain and Asiacell is over USD 2 billion each.
The telecom companies are also bound as per their licence conditions to list their shares on the country’s stock exchange, with Asiacell’s licence condition mandating it to float 25–30 percent of its stock on the stock exchange.
At the end of 3Q 2008 mobile penetration had reached 54 percent, with Zain in pole position with some 8.5 million subscribers.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2009 Blycroft Ltd
The head of Corporate Communications and Customer Care of Ghana Telecom (GT), Major Albert Don-Chebe, has said that the company will be renamed Vodafone Ghana by mid-2009. Don-Chebe added that the move is part of the plan to extend services to all parts of the country.
Don-Chebe added that there will not be any rationalisation of the workforce despite a reoganisation of the operation. Don-Chebe further commented that the company will train its employees to adjust to the changing market demands. However, Don-Chebe mentioned that the company is open for voluntary redundancy requests and promised to offer a good package for employees.
Ghana Telecom is online at www.ghanatelecom.com.gh.
Motlatsi Nzeku, the COO of Telkom South Africa, has been dismissed from his position amid the claims that he raised objections on the restructuring processes undertook by the company. In a press statement, the company revealed that Nzeku is not a part of Telkom SA’s executive committee.
The company further said that it is currently undergoing a restructuring process, redefining the roles and responsibilities of all the chief officers. The restructuring is being carried out in consultation with the company’s board, management, staff and organised labour.
Glo Gateway, the international gateway subsidiary of Globacom, has slashed international calling rates to the UK, the US and Canada by 70 percent. The offer will be available to new and existing customers across the pre-paid and post-paid segments.
The rate of NGN 39 (USD 0.26) per minute charged by Glo will now be reduced to NGN 12 (USD 0.08) per minute for calls to all lines in the US and Canada, and calls to only landlines in the UK. The new tariffs will be applicable to calls made between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. from Monday to Friday, in addition to the calls made during the weekend.
Ibrahim Fadipe, the head of Glo Gateway, revealed that the tariff plan is a part of the promotional scheme–Glo International Talk Extravaganza–ending on 31 January 2009. The reduction in tariffs is in line with Glo’s strategy of offering affordable telecom services.
The Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) has issued a tender document for the supply and commissioning of Voice and Data Traffic Monitoring solutions at the Kabul and Herat MSCs of Afghan Telecom, which are using CDMA Technologies.
The tender calls for a Voice and Data Interception Gateway, with a full set of monitoring ware to monitor voice and data traffic of subscribers connected to Kabul MSC & MGW.
All interested national and international bidders should collect the RTQ Document from:
Muhammad Jan Khan Watt,
Foreign Procurement Department,
Planning and Policy Directorate of MCIT,
Ministry of Communications and IT Building,
Kabul,
Afghanistan.
E-mail: fpd@moc.gov.af and c.c. all communications to ajmal.ayan@moc.gov.af and b.hassam@moc.gov.af.
The closing date for submissions is 11 a.m. on 9 February 2009.
Zain affiliate mtc touch and Motorola, in collaboration with the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications, have announced the launch of EDGE technology, covering all of Lebanon. EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) delivers three fold higher bit-rates per radio channel over GPRS.
Mrs. Roula Abou Daher, mtc touch Chief Technical Officer, said: "Fast connection has become an imperative of all internet-based usages, whether professional or personal, as it increases productivity and saves on time”. She added:"The EDGE technology that we deployed using Motorola solution, is being exclusively introduced to mtc touch customers, more precisely to those subscribed to GPRS service".
Ali Amer, vice president sales, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility, said: "Today’s announcement is further evidence of our long-term relationship with Zain and its affiliates, and we’re delighted to be part of the launch in Lebanon with mtc touch as well as the Ministry of Telecommunications."
Source: industry sources, Blycroft estimates c. Blycroft 2008
Western Africa leads both in terms of annual percentage growth (50 percent) and quarterly growth (12 percent), primarily driven by Nigeria, whilst Southern Africa shows a marked slowing in growth due to South Africa having now achieved a degree of market maturity following growth in earlier periods.
Overall Africa saw annual net additions 85.7 million, representing a 40 percent year-on-year growth, and resulting in a total of 301.3 million mobile subscribers at the end of 1Q 2008.
Africa Regions by Net Additions 1Q08 (millions)
1Q07
4Q07
1Q08
y-o-y
%
q-o-q
%
Northern Africa
74.9
99.8
105.5
30.6
41%
5.8
6%
Western Africa
54.6
73.4
82.0
27.4
50%
8.5
12%
Central Africa
15.7
21.1
22.6
7.0
45%
1.4
7%
Eastern Africa
26.2
35.6
38.8
12.6
48%
3.3
9%
Southern Africa
44.2
50.3
52.3
8.1
18%
1.9
4%
Totals
215.6
280.2
301.2
85.6
40%
21.0
7%
Source: industry sources, Blycroft estimates c. Blycroft 2008
Cellcom Israel has announced its 2Q 2008 results posting an increase of 8.5 percent in profits, which increased from ILS 212 million (USD 59.24 million) in 2Q 2007 to ILS 230 million (USD 64.27 million) in 2Q 2008, while the operating income increased by 25.7 percent y-o-y to reach ILS 431 million (USD 120.44 million).
The EPS increased from ILS 2.15 (USD 0.60) to ILS 2.32 (USD 0.65) per share over the same period. The carrier posted an EBITDA of ILS 617 million (USD 172.41 million) (including a one time expense reversal of ILS 14 million (USD 3.91 million)), representing an annual increase of 14.7 percent, while the EBITDA margin was posted at 38.6 percent. The carrier also posted improved revenue, increasing 9.9 percent y-o-y from ILS 1.46 billion (USD 407.97 million) to ILS 1.6 billion (USD 447.09 million).
The carrier’s overall subscriber base increased by 5.3 percent y-o-y to reach nearly 3.12 million by end-June 2008. While the post-paid subscriber base made net subscriber additions of 27,000; the pre-paid subscriber base was reduced by 6,000.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2008 Blycroft Ltd
Owing to the improved results, the carrier also declared a dividend of ILS 2.76 (USD 0.77) per share for the second quarter, adding up to a total of approximately ILS 270 million (USD 75.45 million).
According to a recent report published by Juniper Research, the revenue from mobile services in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is expected to reach USD 107 billion by 2013. Mobile data services are expected to account for 24 percent of the total mobile services revenue by 2013 as compared with the 9 percent contribution in 2008. The growth in mobile data services is driven by the introduction of new services including mobile banking and payments in addition to low costs.
Other key findings of the report cited that Saudi Arabia, followed by Nigeria, will generate the maximum revenue from mobile data services by 2013. The report also forecasts that mobile users in the region are expected to increase at an average annual rate of 10.5 percent between 2008 and 2013.
Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst, Juniper Research, stated that the report expects a decline in the regional ARPU as services are being adopted by users with low usage. However, there will be an increase in voice ARPU due to the growth in the number of 2.5G and 3G users.
The report also stated that the voice revenues are expected to decrease after 2011 as increase in price competition will reduce profitability in the sector. The average revenue from voice services will also decline due to the increase in the number of low-usage users at a higher pace than high-spending users. The decrease in voice ARPU will be compensated with the increase in the ARPU of data services.
The report examines six major markets in detail, namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Israel in the Middle East; and Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa in Africa. These six nations out of a regional total of 71 (8 percent) represent some 41 percent of the total mobile subscribers in Africa and the Middle East* at the end of 1Q 2008.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2008 Blycroft Ltd
Safaricom, the leading Kenyan mobile phone carrier, has announced that Les Baillie, the company’s CFO, will be promoted as the as the head of investor relations in August this year, prior to his retirement in 2009.
Moreover, the carrier also announced the selection of Chris Tiffin as the new CFO of the company succeeding Baillie. He will take on the position from 25 August 2008. Prior to being appointed in Safaricom, Tiffin worked in a similar role in mobile phone firm Celtel Nigeria. In the past, Tiffin has also worked with the leading South African telecom carrier Vodacom.
Safaricom is online at http://www.safaricom.co.ke.
FRiENDi Mobile, a Dubai-based MVNO, has been granted a mobile reseller licence by the Ministry of Transport and Communication of Oman. The new carrier is scheduled to launch its services in the market by the end of 2008.
Mohamed Bin Yousuf Bin Alawi, the chairman of FRiENDi Mobile Oman, stated that with the launch of the new service provider, Oman mobile subscribers will get access to various enhanced new services at competitive prices.
Moreover, he said that by providing mobile phone services through existing networks, the carrier will be able to provide its subscribers with extended coverage from the start of its operations.
The launch of FRiENDi’s MVNO operations in Oman will make Oman the first country in the Middle East with such a set up. Currently, FRiENDi Mobile Group is also engaged in establishing its MVNO operations in 16 countries across the MENA region.
To operate as an MVNO FRiENDi would have to work with one of the existing operators, namely OmanTel or Nawras. MVNO's tend to more successful when there is an inbalance between the respective market shares of the established MNO's, and there is a need for the minor player to achieve a greater utilisation of its existing network. In this case it is not clear who FRiENDi intends to partner with, as the split between the two operators is 58/42 currently.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2008 Blycroft Ltd
Pieter Uys, the COO of Vodacom Group, has revealed that the company is exploring opportunities to expand its operations in more African nations.
The company, which already operates mobile phone operations in Mozambique, may also contest for the new fixed-line licence to be offered in the country; however, nothing has been announced officially as yet.
Currently, the carrier operates mobile phone services in South Africa, Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2008 Blycroft Ltd
For further information about the Vodacom Group, please contact Ivan Booth, Media Relations Manager at Vodacom, by email at boothiva@vodacom.co.za. Alternatively, please contact the company in Midrand, South Africa, by phone on + 27-11-653-5000 or visit http://www.vodacom.co.za.
Telecom Namibia is to receive funding of NAD 240 million (USD 32 million) from the government, which would enable it to connect Namibia to a new undersea cable - African West Coast Cable project.
The work on the new cable project is being administered by South Africa’s Broadband Infranco and is likely to be complete by May 2010.
Following this, the country will be able to enjoy higher broadband capacity in addition to increased data and voice transmission between Africa and Europe.
Qtel has offered to purchase Singapore Technology Telemedia’s (ST Telemedia’s) entire stake in Indosat, an Indonesian telecom company, for USD 1.35 billion.
The acquisition will increase Qtel’s stake in Indosat from the existing 10 percent to 40.8 percent. Qtel will purchase the stake from Asia Mobile Holdings, a JV between Qtel and ST Telemedia.
The sale of ST Telemedia’s stake follows the Indonesian district court ruling against Temasek Holdings, the parent company of ST Telemedia.
As per the ruling, Temasek was required to sell its holdings in either PT Telekomunikasi Selular or PT Indosat as the company violated antitrust laws. Temasek denied any association between the sale of ST Telemedia’s stake and the court’s ruling.
Qtel is available online at www.qtel.com.qa. For further information about the company, please call +974-4-380-000, or write in to info@qtel.com.qa.
Bezeq will have to wait for a few more months before launching its VoIP offering. The carrier cannot launch any new service until its market share decreases to below 85 percent.
The Ministry of Communications will soon disclose the company’s market share for the month of March.
According to ministry figures, the carrier had a market share of 88.2 percent by end-December, 87.6 percent by end-January and 86.9 percent by the end of February. If the carrier’s market share continues to reduce at this rate, the carrier will be able to launch its VoIP offering within two months.
mCel, Mozambique’s main mobile phone operator and a wholly owned subsidiary of the public telecom company TDM, plans to extend the reach of its network to cover at least 90 percent of the country’s population by 2009.
During the tenth anniversary celebration of the company, Salvador Adriano, mCel’s chairman of the board of directors, stated that the company is making continuous efforts to cover the entire districts and localities of the country.
Adriano also disclosed that at present, the company covers 100 of the country’s 128 districts with its 550 antennae. He further stated that the company is also working for the improvement of the service quality to attract more customers and maintain its number one position in the country’s telecom sector.
Currently, the company owns 70 percent of the country’s mobile phone market with more than 2 million subscribers, while Vodacom’s Mozambican unit owns the remaining share.
Source: Industry data & estimates c. 2007 Blycroft Ltd
Algeria’s mobile market has exceeded all expectations when it continued to grow by around 200 percent four years in a row and soared past the 65 percent penetration mark, according to Paul Budde's 2007 Telecoms, Mobile Broadband in Africa report, just published.
The country’s fixed-line market lags behind the other relatively affluent North African countries, and its second operator is considering exiting the market again after only one year of operations, claiming unfair competition.
Accelerated developments can be expected from 2007 onwards resulting from the upcoming privatisation of the country’s incumbent telco, the award of 3G mobile licences, the expansion of wireless broadband networks and VoIP Internet telephony services. Algeria has some of the lowest ADSL prices in Africa, an extensive national and international fibre backbone network, and a FttH pilot project.
The Algerian government earlier announced that various companies were interested in the purchase of the stake including Etisalat (UAE), MTN (Kuwait), Vodacom (South Africa), Qtel (Qatar) and Korea Telecom among various other French, Canadian, the US, Saudi Arabian and Russian carriers and consortia.
The research further revealed that the privatisation of the fixed-line incumbent will increase competition in the domestic fixed-line market and bring it at par with the rapidly improving mobile market.
Hits Africa has announced a strategic partnership under which its USD 300 million capital has been augmented by a further USD 80 million after Hits Africa Communications struck a deal with the Madina Investment Company.
Khalid Yaquob Al Mutawa, Chairman of Madina Finance & Investment, said that it is making a direct investment in the service sectors of markets with high growth potential. He added that the first stage will comprise the operation of four merged licenses related to four countries in an investment exceeding USD 4 billion.
Saudi Hits has previously been awarded the third mobile licence in Yemen, and it was also the lead in the Metai-ITC licence, which was recently awarded a fixed-line licence. Khalid Al Mutawa expects that a second tranche of capital will be injected during the second half of 2008.
McKenzie has undertaken a survey of African markets to determine the number of countries, potential operators, rate of potential penetration in each market, and the number of inactive local licences.
Dr. Mohammad Bahbary, Deputy Chairman of Hits Africa Co. and a member of the Board of Directors of Saudi Heats Co., said that Hits Africa holds 30 percent of Liberian operator Libercell, and owns 65 pecrent of Excellent Cell in Tanzania. Bahbary said that due to the good quality of its rendered services, Hits Africa believed it could increase the number of Libercell subscribers from the 35,000 upon acquisition to 65,000 within three months, with 100,000 subscribers targeted for the year end.
The number of actual Libercell subscribers remains a moot point. Figures of........
In the National Assembly meet, Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, the Secretary of State for Communication and Information Technology in Gambia, revealed that the state is working to improve communication services in the rural areas. She said that a fixed wireless solution such as provided by Airspan is being deployed in these areas.
She added that a telecom survey is being conducted in the villages of Diganteh, Sare Modi Kulo, Sasita and Sare Joma. In addition, subscriber line installations has already completed in Kanumeh, Badoumeh and Buiba in Jarra Central.
Moreover, Macdouall-Gaye also stated that a central station has been installed in Kaur to facilitate the extension of telephone services in the neighbouring villages of Ballanghar, Jahawur Mandinka, Gengie Wollof, Simbasa Hai and Jimbala Felengo.
Airspan's offering in Africa has majored on two solutions: AS.MAX and AS4020. It claims that AS4020 offers a solution for the growing market demand for premium services, especially in many of the metropolitan areas in Africa. It claims to have seen this expansion in Botswana, Angola, the Gambia and Nigeria, with ASWipLL and AS4030 are being deployed by many new operators throughout Africa providing high speed data access and backhaul capabilities.
Umniah (the mobile service provider in Jordan and a subsidiary of Batelco Bahrain Group) has inked a country-wide contract with Airspan Networks Inc., which provides broadband wireless access networks. Under the terms of the contract, Airspan will provide fixed and mobile WiMAX solutions to the carrier. However, the two companies have not disclosed the details of the contract formally.
Batelco is available online at www.batelco.com. For further information about the company, please call +973-1-788-1881.
This month's Country Report focusses on Morocco; one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in Africa, featuring a majority-privatised highly profitable incumbent telco, three fixed network operators, a mobile penetration in excess of 40%, as well as the highest penetration and lowest prices for broadband access on the continent.
The recently licensed second and third fixed network operator are both rolling out wireless infrastructures based on the WiMAX standard which will allow the provision of converged next-generation IP-based services. 2006 also saw the launch of the first commercial IPTV service in Africa and the licensing of three Third Generation (3G) mobile service providers expected to launch in 2007. The Moroccan market is set for continued spectacular growth that will see it reach levels of development rivalling those of some European markets over the next five to ten years.
Morocco’s telecommunications network is among the largest in Africa with top class facilities and services. The countrys telecom sector is undergoing a massive change due to its liberalisation, mandated by Moroccan Law 24-96. This law paved the way for opening the sector to public telecom operators through the awarding of new licences.
As part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Basic Telecommunications Services Agreement reached in February 1997, Morocco committed to market access (but no national treatment for foreign suppliers) for domestic packet switched data, frame relay, mobile, paging and Personal Communication System (PCS) services. It also committed to market access for point-to-point voice telephony service from January 2002, and adopted its own set of regulatory commitments on interconnection and an independent regulatory authority. In November 2003, Morocco joined a WTO agreement on removing all tariff barriers to information technology products such as personal computers and telecoms equipment.
The country’s 2000-2004 Economic and Social Development Plan outlined telecommunications as its strategic sector. The strategic plan aimed at developing new technologies within education, administration and the private sector, with e-learning, e-commerce, e-government, and reaching 10 million Internet users by 2010. Total revenue in Morocco’s telecommunications sector has increased threefold between 1998 and 2004 and currently represents 5% of the GDP. 65% of the population are under the age of 35.
Penetration rates for services have grown rapidly and the country is becoming more attractive to foreign investors. Partial privatisation of the incumbent operator Maroc Telecom (MT) was achieved in early 2001. While most services are still controlled by MT, a number of licences have been awarded including a second GSM cellular mobile licence and a second and third fixed-line licence. Private companies can also operate payphone kiosks.
The introduction of competition in the mobile market in March 2000 caused an unprecedented growth in subscriber numbers, and consequently a decline in the number of fixed-line connections. By mid-2000 cellular lines exceed the number of fixed lines in Morocco, and the ratio is more than 10:1 today. Strong growth has continued with subscriptions breaking the 10 million mark during 2005 and penetration exceeding 40% in early 2006, compared with only just over 4% for the fixed-line network.
Morocco hosts half of all call centres outsourced of France. With more than 100 centres in operation, the call centre industry generates an annual turnover of €85 million and has created 10,000 jobs in the country. 80% of the call centres are concentrated in the Casablanca-Rabat region.
The fixed-line market is expected to see a revival following the licensing of a second and third service provider in 2005, fuelled also by the growing demand for broadband Internet access. Many of the new connections will be wireless, with both new service providers rolling out WiMAX networks. All three major operators in the country were also awarded licences to provide Third Generation (3G) mobile services in 2006.
Subscribers can access the report in the archive, which can be accessed at http://www.telecom-daily.com/africa/login.html. Then use the Country Report Finder to select 'Morocco Telecoms Market Analysis - August 2007'.
Subscribers who have mislaid or not received an archive password should e-mail editor@blycroft.com to register.
Batelco has reduced the charges of its Inet-dedicated access services by up to 50 percent. This forms part of the company’s ‘business-benefit programme’.
The company now boasts of offering services at the most competitive tariffs in the GCC market for the corporate and educational clients.
Ahmed Al Janahi, the corporate affairs general manager of Batelco, stated that the new tariff rates will enable customers to reap the benefits of subscribing to higher bandwidth. Moreover, if the customers sign up for fixed-term contracts for the service, they will be entitled to additional discounts.
The service offers broadband access speed of up to 100 Mbps which is available 24x7. The companies will be able to establish a dedicated connection to the Internet using a point-to-point data link through domestically leased, LAN connect or MPLS technologies.
The subscribers of the service will also be entitled to unique value-added services including sub-net of eight IP addresses and free domain name ending with the ‘.bh’ extension. In addition, the company offers round-the-clock helpdesk support to its customers.
Batelco is available online at www.batelco.com. For further information about the company, please call +973-1-788-1881
Saudi Oger, the parent company of Oger Telecom, has signed a deal with Telecom Italia to acquire back its 10.36 percent share in Oger Telecom owned by the latter for USD 477 million.
The transfer will be completed by the end of July 2007. The deal will lead to proceeds worth EUR 90 million (USD 122.55 million) for Telecom Italia and remove its commitment worth USD 150 million. Moreover, the operation will further result in a reduction of nearly EUR 470 million in the net financial position of Telecom Italia Group.
The sale of stake in Oger Telecom was in line with the Telecom Italia’s decision to reduce its stake in the international non-strategic companies.
Oger Telecom has a 55 percent shareholding in Turk Telecom, while Turk Telecom has an 81 percent stake in Avea, the local cellphone carrier. In addition, Oger Telecom also owns a 75 percent indirect stake in Cell C.
Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) has collaborated with T-Systems Media&Broadcast to deploy the DVB-H network for Qtel, the sole telecom provider in Qatar. This deal marks the introduction of such a network in the Middle East.
The complete project included the supply of H.264/AAC video/audio encoders of the R&S AVE264 series, the R&S AVP264-K3 flute server, the R&S DIP010 data inserter for the IP encapsulation, the medium-power transmitters of the R&S NV8200 family and the gap filler of the R&S XV7003 type to Qtel. R&S was responsible for providing comprehensive services for the solution ranging from production and delivery to the project service.
T-Systems Media&Broadcast, the partner of R&S in the project, was responsible for network planning and coverage for integrating the R&S playout centre, which included the Electronic Service Guide (ESG) meta data, with the network to enable signal distribution, deployment and operation of the network.
The playout centre will be used for statistical multiplex, which will increase the data capacity by 30-40 percent. The open platform will enable the inclusion of future coding systems at any time in addition to the conformal DVB-H instruments into the network. The network, which has been set up as Single Frequency Network (SFN), will have the capacity to display 20-25 video and audio DVB-H channels. The network also comprises a number of gap fillers to amplify the signal quickly in order to maintain the synchronisation.
Earlier, R&S BICK Mobilfunk installed the TETRA network for Qtel in 2006.
Qtel is available online at www.qtel.com.qa. For further information about the company, please call +974-4-380-000, or write in to info@qtel.com.qa.
Areeba has launched a new package ‘Holiday Chat – 30 days Pack’, which is a usage-based package, to meet the needs of travellers visiting Cyprus. The new package will enable the visitors to stay connected with their homeland, while saving on call costs and avoiding roaming as well as incoming call charges. Local calls are charged at CYP 0.04 (USD 0.09) per minute and CYP 0.01 (USD 0.09) for sending SMSes anywhere in the world.
However, the international calls are charged at standard rates. For instance, calls made to landlines in the UK, Greece, Germany and Russia cost CYP 0.07 (USD 0.16) per minute and calls to mobile phones are charged at CYP 0.19 (USD 0.43) per minute to Greece, CYP 0.02 (USD 0.05) per minute to the UK, CYP 0.19 (USD 0.43) per minute to Germany and CYP 0.08 (USD 0.18) per minute to Russia.
The package has a validity period of 30 days and is available for CYP 5 (USD 11.43) with free airtime usage of CYP 1 (USD 2.29). Top-up cards of value CYP 4 (USD 9.14), CYP 8 (USD 18.29) and CYP 16 (USD 35.58) are also available.
Redline Communications has expanded the RedMAX-based WiMAX network for Teledata de Mozambique, a joint venture between Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique (TDM) and Portugal Telecom, to four new cities in Mozambique. The network will cater to fixed and portable broadband needs of the company’s corporate and residential customers in the region.
Earlier, the network was installed in Maputo, Beira, Matola and Nampula. Teledata de Mozambique plans to launch user self-installable RedMAX Indoor Subscriber units. Through this, the subscribers will be able to reap the benefits of nomadic and limited portable WiMAX services.
Luis Filipe de Lucas Mhula, the CEO of Teledata Mozambique, stated that the WiMAX network received good response with over 800 subscriptions for the WiMAX broadband services from enterprises and households within the first 11 months of its inception.
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) will provide its telephony and video services at a limited-period discounted price of 50 percent from 27 May 2007 to 30 May 2007. The company announced that the offer is open for customers making voice and video calls inside Mobily’s network, as well as outside its domestic circle.
The company is offering the discount on all Mobily prepaid and postpaid packages. However, the discount will not be applicable to Rihal package and premium services. Moreover, the company has offered an additional 20 percent discount on favourite numbers for prepaid schemes such as Anees, in addition to all consumer-postpaid offers.
Moreover, the company is attracting its enterprise subscribers by offering additional 100 percent talk time during the four-day period.
Source: Blycroft based on industry data and estimated values, Ó 2007 Blycroft Ltd
This week a comprehensive directory of African and Middle East mobile operators has been published. The publisher claims to have logged 176 operator profiles, with 770+ named contacts. It also has subscriber numbers and estimates for every featured operator.
Each of the operator profiles contain Company name; Network name; Address (174 out of 176); URL / Website address (175 out of 176 entries); Telephone (173 out of 176); Fax; E-mail; Parent company name and URL; Group name and URL; Network technology; Total subscribers (Q4 2006 - 159 out of 176 entries) and at least one named management contact per profile (172 out of 176 entries)
Mark Thomas said: "This directory is an essential reference tool for any company that sells any product or service to mobile network operators (MNOs), or indeed to anyone who needs to quickly and easily identify and contact MNOs in the region."
Nawras has revealed that the new free MMS promotion increased the MMS traffic by 10 times. The promotional feature allowed all Nawras customers to send videos, photos and multimedia captured by mobile phones free-of-cost throughout Oman on weekends for two months. Sending photographs was the most popular service availed by customers.
Adnan Idrees, the customer relationship manager at Nawras, stated that the free MMS service has highlighted customers’ interest in the latest technology. He added that during the promotional period, the company’s network capacity was also tested. It performed strongly with the efforts of Nawras and Ericsson professionals, allowing customers to enjoy uninterrupted services.
Earlier, Nawras’ network had been ranked as the top network as compared to 100 other Ericsson networks worldwide. The company also plans to roll out another MMS offer in the future. Nawras at the end of the first quarter had some 34 percent of the market.
Source: industry data & estimates Ó 2007 Blycroft Ltd
For further information about Nawras, please visit www.nawras.om.
Following the recent acquisition of mobile licenses in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, France Telecom has announced this week that it has further strengthened its presence in Africa by acquiring a mobile and Internet licence in the Central African Republic.
Start-up is planned before the end of the year.
Orange is already present in Botswana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali and Senegal, serving nearly 10 million customers in this region. France Telecom also has first-rate positions in Egypt, Jordan and Mauritius, with more than 13 million customers in these three countries.
For further information, please contact Bertrand Deronchaine (bertrand.deronchaine@orange-ftgroup.com) or Sébastien Audra (sebastien.audra@orange-ftgroup.com), or by phone on +33 1 44 44 93 93.
Saudi Telecom’s mobile arm ALJAWAL is to deploy MobiComp’s MobileKeeper for its 'My Backup' service. The service will allow users to protect their personal data should their mobile device be lost or stolen. The platform offers a comprehensive "over the air" back up and restore system with the ability to protect any kind of data held on a mobile device, including contacts, texts, photos, videos, music, bookmarks, ring tones and calendars, to business applications like Microsoft Word and Excel. The backup takes place automatically, so that data can be easily recovered if the mobile device is damaged, lost or stolen.
Jameel Al Molhem, ALJAWAL Marketing General Manager said that: "It not only gives users confidence to start using more advanced mobile data services, but it's also offering a solution that is network based - which is critical to any operator."
MobileKeeper is a client/server platform based on open standards that supports a variety of device clients for Symbian S60/S80/UIQ, SIMCards, J2ME and Windows Mobile Smartphone.
ALJAWAL signed with GHRRA Telecom (www.ghrratelecom.com), the local partner, and representative of MobiComp (www.mobicomp.com) in Saudi Arabia.
Wataniya International, in alliance with a number of regional investors, has signed a joint venture agreement with Sprint Nextel to establish Sprint Nextel Middle East.
The new venture will be involved in offering wireless communication services to carriers in the Middle East and North Africa.
Ahmad Haleem, the CEO of Wataniya International, stated that the new joint venture will facilitate Wataniya’s plans to strengthen its position as a company that offers innovative solutions and services.
However, the companies are still to receive the regulatory approvals. The venture agreement is expected to be closed by the end of 2007.
At present, Sprint Nextel controls two networks that cater to the demands of nearly 53.1 million customers.
For further information about Wataniya and its corporate activities, please contact Sylvie Scott, Wataniya International FZ-LLC, 2nd Floor, Showtime Building, Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE by phone at + 97-143-672-330, by fax at + 97-143-908-000 or by email at sscott@wataniya.com. Wataniya can be found online at http://www.wataniyatelecom.com.
Etisalat announced that its MMS and Al Mersal Voice Mail services will be available to all its subscribers. The company has also announced that it will not charge any registration fees for the services. To avail the services, subscribers need to execute a simple set-up process.
In order to register for MMS, subscribers are required to send an SMS with ‘r mms’ as the message to 1010. The service enables Etisalat’s subscribers to send MMS to other Etisalat’s numbers and international mobile numbers of various countries, including all the GCC countries, Jordan, India, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Users can also access multimedia services when travelling in countries where Etisalat has roaming contracts. Currently, it has roaming agreements with nearly 160 countries including the GCC countries, UK, Egypt, Syria and Pakistan.
The Al Mersal Voice Mail service, a 24-hour answering service, comprises a personalised greeting that can be modified by the user. All the messages that are stored have the information related to the time and date of the message.
Subscribers are charged AED 0.18 (USD 0.05) per minute for the voice mail. In a bid to register for voice mail services, users are required to dial 125 and request for the same.
For more information on Etisalat, please call +97-126-182-173 or write in to prd@etisalat.ae.
Ericsson has signed a USD 388 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MTN to extend the operations of MTN and Ericsson in Africa and the Gulf.
The agreement will target infrastructure expansion, network rollout, base stations upgrade and introduction of sophisticated technologies in the regions.
According to David Clayphan, the VP and MCA head of Ericsson, the agreement will assist the company to enter into a strategic collaboration with MTN. The move will mark a new development in the 14-year old thriving business partnership between the two organisations.
According to Sifiso Dabengwa, the group COO of MTN, the move highlights the company as a successful technical partner of Ericsson. The company envisions scoring an edge over its competitors with the help of Ericsson’s technological capabilities.
For further information about MTN, please contact the company in Cape Town (South Africa) on +27-214-017-400 or visit http://www.mtn.co.za.
According to the ANRT, the telecom regulatory authority of Morocco, the country has witnessed a continuous increase in the telecom penetration rate over the past couple of years. The penetration rate was reported to be 57.8 percent at the end of 2006. This figure includes both mobile and fixed-line penetration rates.
The increase in the penetration is attributed to the driving force of the value-added market. In addition, the significant increase in the number of call centres to 235 was also responsible in improving the state of the telecom market in the country.
On the other hand, the Internet penetration rate has only risen from 0.88 percent in 2005 to 1.34 percent in 2006.
Vodafone and the government of Kenya have jointly agreed to float an IPO from the part of the government’s stake in Safaricom. Safaricom is jointly owned by Telkom Kenya and Vodafone. The approval of Vodafone was important because the company owns the pre-emptive rights on the sale of the stake.
The government has decided to sell 9 percent of its stake to Vodafone and also expects to sell additional share as IPO on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE).
Mwai Kibaki, the Kenyan president, stated that the launch of the IPO will allow more citizens to own stakes in the country’s big companies. Kibaki also stated that the government plans to float an IPO for Telkom Kenya.
The government’s move to sell its stake in Safaricom is in accordance with its restructuring program for Telkom. The capital generated from the IPO will be utilised to finance the restructuring of the company.
The Kenyan population has been pressurising the government to divest from its stake in Safaricom and float an IPO from those shares. This is because the population of the country wants to capitalise on the booming market. Furthermore, they expect the IPO to follow a similar trend as was observed for the IPO of the government’s 30 percent stake in KenGen.
Kibaki also added that subsequent to the release of the Micro finance law, Kenyans will have more freedom and opportunity to use credit for business and other forms of investments.
Late last week, the Nigerian government issued the country’s fifth GSM licence to UAE’s Mubadala Development Company. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the transaction was valued at USD 400 million.
Dave Imoko, an NCC spokesperson, stated that licence was issued as a part of the government’s continuous effort to enhance the country’s telecom sector. He added that the deadline for Mubadala Development Company to pay the licence fee is 19 January 2007.
The NCC first awarded GSM licences to three companies in 2001. Econet Wireless Nigeria, Mtel and MTN bagged the licences for USD 285 million each. In 2003, Globacom won the fourth licence for a consideration of USD 285 million. MTN NIgeria is currently the kargest mobile operator, with a market share of some 39 percent at the end of September 2006.
David Avner, the former deputy CEO and COO of Partner Communications, which operates under the Orange brand name, has been appointed as the new CEO of the company. Avner has replaced Amikam Cohen as the CEO. The appointment came into effect from 1 January, 2007.
Avner was chosen for the post of deputy CEO in April 2005. In January 2006, Avner was also selected as the company’s COO.
Canning Fok, the chairman of the board at Partner Communications, praised and thanked Cohen for his contribution to the company. Fok explained that Cohen was responsible for the company’s significant growth since its inception in 1995. Cohen will continue to work as the advisor to the company.
For more information about Partner, visit www.investors.partner.co.il. You can also contact Alan Gelman, Chief Financial Officer, by telephone on +972-547-814-951, by fax on +972-547-815-961 or by email at alan.gelman@orange.co.il. Alternatively, you can contact Dan Eldar, VP Carrier, Investor and International Relations, by telephone on +972-547-814-151, by fax on +972-547-814-161 or by email at dan.eldar@orange.co.il.
articles and 
data sets for the period July 2002 to date.
