Malawi cancels GAIN's Licence

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has said it has revoked the wireless licence of Global Advanced Integrated Networks (GAIN), which intended to provide services under the G-Mobile banner.

According to local news source Nyasa Times, the cellco’s concession was withdrawn because of its failure to meet specific rollout targets stipulated under the terms of its licence. GAIN was awarded Malawi’s third mobile licence in July 2008.

The cellco received an extension to its network rollout deadline in March 2010, after it admitted that it would not be able to meet the original condition of its licence to rollout by end-2009. After the operator failed to meet the new deadline of 12 April 2010, the local press reported that MACRA had started the process to revoke GAIN’s concession.

Reacting to MACRA’s decision to withdraw GAIN’s licence, the firm’s lawyer Ralph Kasambara said the regulator acted in contempt of court, because the matter is undergoing judicial review.  On 20 May 2010 GAIN was given 30 days to pay a USD6.9 million fine issued by regulator MACRA for failing to deploy its wireless network.

However, the cellco took the matter to the High Court in Mzuzu and gained an injunction against the penalty until a judicial review could be carried out. Since then, GAIN said it has begun to deploy its infrastructure; the cellco partnered Telkom Management Services of South Africa to help it plan and deploy a network and said it was using ZTE of China as an equipment supplier.

In August the company announced that it would invest USD150 million in the next three years and earlier this month revealed that South African private equity investor Musa Capital would invest around USD30 million in the firm. Musa Capital owns 50% of South Africa’s Beryl Telecoms, which holds the majority stake in GAIN.

G-Mobile Lays Out Its Plans

Malawi-based start-up cellular operator G-Mobile has announced that it will invest USD150 million in the next three years to become a realistic contender in the country’s GSM market.

CEO Peter Davies also told reporters that the South African-backed company had already injected USD25 million into the network, which is expected to be commercially launched by the end of the year.

On 20 May 2010 G-Mobile, registered as Global Advanced Integrated Networks (GAIN), was given 30 days to pay a USD6.9 million fine issued by regulator MACRA for failing to deploy its wireless network.

However, the cellco took the matter to the High Court in Mzuzu and gained an injunction against the penalty until a judicial review could be carried out. On 12 July Justice Lovemore Chikopa upheld the injunction and set 23 August 2010 as the date for the matter to be heard in court. G-Mobile has partnered Telkom Management Services of South Africa to help it plan and deploy a network and is using ZTE of China as an equipment supplier.

Mr Davies claimed that the newcomer aims to raise the level of quality in Malawi’s mobile services sector as well as bringing down the cost of calls in the country.

Malawi's G-Mobile Starts Building Towers

Malawi’s third mobile operator licensee, G-Mobile, has started deploying infrastructure for a wireless network, reports local newspaper The Nation.

The news follows a move by the country’s regulator, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra), to fine the operator USD6.9 million in May in light of its failure to roll out a network.

G-Mobile's director of administration Harold Myaba said that the company is negotiating the fine with Macra. ‘A lot has been happening behind the scenes that people didn’t see. It’s now starting to show,’ said Myaba.

When G-Mobile does finally launch it will compete against Telekom Networks and Zain, who between them claimed 2.7 million subscribers at the end of March 2010, in a country whose population is more than 14 million.

Malawi Authority Delays 4th Licence Over wa Mutharika Link

According to a report by local daily Nyasa Times, the board of the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is unsure whether to declare Comium Malawi the successful bidder of the country’s fourth mobile licence, as the company has links to President Bingu wa Mutharika’s daughters. ‘If this goes ahead it will be corruption of some sort, Comium Malawi should not get it because it was not the best company,’ a top level MACRA source said.

MACRA launched an international tender for a fourth wireless licence earlier in the year, after two previous attempts to introduce new players in the market failed. The country’s third mobile licence holder, Global Advanced Integrated Networks (GAIN, or G-Mobile), is currently facing the revocation of its permit after repeatedly missing the rollout deadlines stipulated by its licence, while in October 2009 the government suspended two licences – awarded to Lacell of Singapore and the UAE’s Expresso Telecom in April 2009 – following legal concerns that the regulator had issued a pair of concessions, but had only advertised one for sale.

Malawi Threatens to Withdraw G-Mobiles Licence

South Africa's Beryl Telecoms has reportedly engaged Telkom SA to take over the management of the Malawi's delayed 3rd mobile network operator, G-Mobile. The operator itself is under threat of losing its license if it doesn't launch its network by the 12th April.

Beryl Capital and Telecoms was contracted last year to manage the roll out of its network, which was due to have been completed at the end of last year. When G-Mobile was awarded its license last April, it said that it was expected to invest US$40 million in the venture within the first five years of operations.

G-Mobile conceded that the new deadline is very tight, raising fears that the company could dissolve even before rolling out its services.

According to statistics from the Mobile World analysts, the country ended last year with just under 2.6 million customers, which represents a population penetration level of around 18%. The country has two active mobile networks, Zain and Telecom Networks Malawi.