Al-Lu To Prepare Tunisiana For 3G and LTE

Alcatel-Lucent has announced that it has signed a deal with Tunisiana to upgrade the cellco’s network to IP as it prepares for 3G and LTE. 


The operator says migrating to an all-IP infrastructure will allow it to offer a full range of converged services, along with increased reliability, scalability and speed. 


No financial details have been disclosed. Tunisiana, formerly part of Orascom Telecom, became a subsidiary of Qatar Telecom in January 2011.

Orascom Reduces Telecel Stake to Comply With Zim Law

Bloomberg reports that Egyptian cellular group Orascom Telecom Holdings has confirmed that it is in talks with the Zimbabwean government on reducing its stake in GSM operator Telecel Zimbabwe from 60% to 49% to comply with an indigenisation law requiring locals to own majority stakes in foreign companies. 


The firm’s statement was published in the state-backed Zimbabwean newspaper The Herald.

Telecel Says NetOne Is Not Sharing Towers

Orascom-backed mobile operator Telecel Zimbabwe’s CEO Aimable Mpore has accused state-owned rival NetOne of refusing to share cellular tower infrastructure, according to a report in Zimbabwean newspaper The Herald.

In the course of responding to questions on Telecel’s ownership structure from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology, Mpore disclosed that Telecel has had no problems sharing infrastructure with the country’s largest cellco Econet or incumbent PSTN operator TelOne, but claimed that NetOne has dismantled Telecel's equipment ‘because the facilities belong to them.’

Mpore called for state enforcement of site-sharing principles.

Airtel Rebrands Warid In Bangladesh

Indian giant Bharti Airtel has announced the launch of its Airtel brand in Bangladesh to replace the Warid Bangladesh name that its operations in the country currently operate under.

Bharti bought a 70% stake in the Bangladeshi cellco in January 2010 for USD300 million from UAE-based Abu Dhabi Group. Chris Tobit, CEO of Airtel Bangladesh, said the company would strive to improve services, whilst it would also ‘value the country's identity, culture and language ... while retaining the youthfulness and dynamism of the global brand so that our customers here can enjoy the same best-in-class brand experience as across continents.’

He added: ‘We have already begun to bring alive our promise of taking our mobile network deeper and delivering world-class and affordable mobile services ... Airtel customers will get to enjoy price advantage over competitive offers, which are brought on by Airtel's unique business model.’

Airtel Bangladesh customers will now be able to experience new multimedia content with the launch of ‘Airtel live’, a WAP portal offering games, video, pictures and various other value added services. With approximately four million customers, Airtel Bangladesh is the country's fourth largest operator after Telenor-backed GrameenPhone, Orascom-owned Banglalink and Robi (owned by Malaysia’s Axiata).

Algeria Plans to Acquire Djezzy

The Algerian government is poised to make an offer to buy Orascom Telecom's Djezzy mobile phone unit by the middle of next year, Reuters reports, citing an unnamed Telecommunications Ministry source.

The hotly contested unit has been the source of much speculation in recent years, and came to the fore once again following October’s agreement between Russia's Vimpelcom and Egyptian entrepreneur Naguib Sawiris under which Vimpelcom would take a majority stake in most of Orascom Telecom's units, originally slated to include its most valuable asset Djezzy.

Provisional negotiations between Vimpelcom and Algiers over the potential privatisation of Djezzy stalled, and the Algerian government forced Orascom’s hand by hitting the telecoms firm with substantial back taxes.

Last week Algiers demanded a figure of around USD230 million for the tax years ending 2008 and 2009; Orascom has called the reassessment ‘completely unfounded’. In November Algeria's Finance Ministry shortlisted ten firms to provide it with a valuation of Djezzy, with the results anticipated to be available before end-2010. The Algerian telecoms official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters: ‘I think Algeria will make an offer to Djezzy by the end of June 2011’.
Although Vimpelcom has expressed its desire to acquire Djezzy throughout, its plan suffered a major setback yesterday when Norwegian shareholder Telenor confirmed that it is not willing to back the acquisition.
 
Telenor, which holds a 36% voting stake in Vimpelcom, is generally perceived as taking a more cautious approach towards international expansion than its co-shareholder, Alfa Group, and its reluctance to push through the Djezzy deal has been rumoured for some time.
 
Telenor spokesman Dag Melgaard commented: ‘In our capacity as a shareholder of Vimpelcom Ltd., we do not believe this transaction makes strategic or financial sense for Vimpelcom's shareholders’.
 
In a subsequent press statement Vimpelcom confirmed: ‘Six of nine directors, including all three independent directors and the three Altimo-nominated directors, voted in favour of the transaction, with the Telenor-nominated directors voting against the transaction. The supervisory board did not approve an amended shareholder agreement, or vote on other shareholder-related agreements due to Telenor’s publicly stated position that, in its capacity as a shareholder of Vimpelcom, it does not support the transaction’.

Tunisie Telecom Awarded 3G Licence

Reuters reports that the Tunisian government has awarded a 3G licence to state controlled telco Tunisie Telecom (TT) for TND116 million (USD 80 million), putting it in competition with France Telecom's local unit, Orange Tunisia, which launched a joint 2G/3G network in May this year. TT is 65% owned by the state, while Emirates International Telecommunications (EIT) owns the remainder.


 Tunisia was home to 11.42 million wireless subscribers at the end of June. TT and Tunisiana, the local arm of Orascom Telecom, each control 48.7% of the market, while Orange had a 2.6% market share with 297,000 customers after two months of operation.

Algeria Hires Experts to Value Djezzy

­The Algerian government will be hiring international consultancy firms to put a valuation on Orascom Telecom's local subsidiary, Djezzy and expect the process to be completed by the end of this year.

Orascom Telecom has previously indicated that it puts a valuation of $7.8 billion on the company, although analysts doubt the government would offer more than US$5 billion.

"We have a ministerial committee. We have also an Algerian consultancy firm working with foreign consultancy firms to determine the financial value of Djezzy," Telecommunications Minister Moussa Benhammadi told the Reuters news agency.

Finance Minister Karim Djoudi, also present at Thursday's session of parliament , said on the latest developments over Djezzy: "We are still ready to buy it. We have started the evaluation to prepare for the acquisition talks."

The future of the Algerian network has been under discussion for several months, with the Algerian government unwilling to let Orascom sell the company, while also suggesting that it wants to buy the firm itself.

Algerian State TV Stops Airing Djezzy Ads Over Orascom Dispute

­The dispute between Orascom Telecom and the Algerian government appears to have escalated after the country's state-owned television channels all stopped running adverts for the OTH's local mobile network, Djezzy.

Algerian state television, which controls all the country's terrestrial stations, refused to renew an annual advertising contract with Djezzy, an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

"They (state television) are no longer agreeing to run Djezzy's ads," said the source, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The timing is interesting as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is typically one of the strongest selling periods for companies operating in the country.

Adverts are continuing to be run on radio and in newspapers, while satellite television networks that operate overseas but are watched in Algeria are also running adverts.

Following a long running tax dispute, Orascom recently confirmed that the Algerian government was in talks to buy Djezzy. A clamp down on advertising could push down subscriber growth, and hence the price that the government would have to pay to buy the company.

Orascom Confirms Talks With Vimpelcom Are On

Orascom Telecom's Executive Chairman Naguib Sawiris has confirmed previous press reports that his holding company Weather Investments is in talks with Russia’s Vimpelcom over possible merger plans involving assets including Weather’s controlling stakes in the Egypt-based Orascom group and Italy’s Wind. Whilst talking to press on a visit to Orascom’s Canadian subsidiary Globalive Wireless (Wind Mobile), the Egyptian entrepreneur also confirmed that he was open to discussions with any potential strategic international partner for Weather/Orascom, Canadian paper the Global & Mail reported. Sawiris said: ‘We are not only talking to [Vimpelcom], we are talking to anybody ... We have two things on our agenda right now – solving the Algerian issue [where the local government wants to block attempts to sell Orascom’s mobile unit Djezzy] and, second, finding a good partner for the group.’ He also declared it was possible that Wind Mobile could eventually acquire other Canadian cellular start-ups such as Mobilicity and Public Mobile.

Vimpelcom 'About to Buy' Weather

Reuters reports that Russia’s Vimpelcom and Naguib Sawiris are ‘close’ to signing a term sheet for the sale of the Egyptian tycoon’s holding company Weather Investments, which owns 50%-plus-one-share of Egyptian-based mobile group Orascom Telecom and 100% of Italian telco Wind Telecomunicazioni as well as controlling Greek operator Wind Hellas.

The report, citing Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, said that Sawiris is looking at selling Weather to Vimpelcom with help from Lazard, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. Vimpelcom declined to comment on the Il Sole 24 Ore report today whilst Orascom was not immediately available for comment.

Russian Cellco in Orascom Bid

Reuters, quoting Russian newspaper Kommersant, reports that Russian cellco Vimpelcom is considering a potential deal to purchase 51% of Egyptian cellular group Orascom Telecom as well as take control of Italian full-service telco Wind Telecomunicazioni by buying out the two companies’ mutual holding company Weather Investments.

Weather Investments is controlled by Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris.

The Kommersant report, which did not name its sources, said Vimpelcom could pay for the deal with cash and shares, with Sawiris and his partners getting approximately 20%-23% of voting rights in Vimpelcom, which currently has a market value of USD22.6 billion.

The potential deal, worth an estimated USD6.5 billion without debt, would reduce the stakes of Russia’s Alfa Group and Norway's Telenor in Vimpelcom to around 35% and 27% respectively, from 44.65% and 36.03% at present, following the Russian firm’s merger earlier in the year with Ukraine’s Kyivstar. Elsewhere, Wind’s Greek sister telco Wind Hellas is currently receiving offers from potential new investors as it aims to restructure its capital.

Orascom Atributes Q3 Loss to Forex

Egyptian telecoms group Orascom Telecom has revealed a net loss for the three-month period ended 30 June 2010 on the back of unrealised foreign exchange losses.

In the second quarter of its 2010 fiscal year the company posted a net loss after minority interests of USD66.1 million, reporting that forex losses in the three-month period were USD120 million; by comparison, in the same period a year earlier Orascom posted a net profit of USD111.8 million.

The Egyptian company also noted that impairment charges in Algeria and start-up losses attributed to its Canadian operations had both impacted on the bottom line.

Revenues however fared better, with Orascom generating turnover of USD1.058 billion in 2Q10 compared with USD990.6 million a year earlier, a 7% year-on-year increase, although monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) continued to decline across all regions of operation.

In the three-month period Orascom reported that global ARPU was USD5, down 16.7% y-o-y, with Lebanon-based Alfa ad Egyptian cellco MobiNil reporting the largest declines, of 25% and 22.9% respectively.

In operational terms, Orascom saw subscriber growth at every one of its subsidiaries in the quarter, with the group’s total wireless customer base standing at 99.079 million at end-June 2010. Mobilink, Orascom’s Pakistani unit, remains its largest by subscribers, with the subsidiary adding just over 630,000 customers in the three months to 30 June 2010 to bring its total to 32.302 million.

In its home country meanwhile MobiNil, which accounts for the second largest number of Orascom’s total customers, reported 26.147 million subscribers at the end of the first half of 2010, up just 0.1% y-o-y, with the slowing growth attributed to new regulations and the shortage of new numbers.

Egypt Approves Tripple-Play Service

The Egyptian telecoms regulator, the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), has given the go-ahead for two consortia to provide triple-play services to residential compounds in Cairo’s suburbs which contain between 50 and 5,000 housing units, Reuters reports. The announcement follows the NTRA’s revelation that it was making two geographically-restricted triple-play concessions available last October. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, in April 2010 two bids were received for the concessions, and commenting on the latest development, Amr Badawi, NTRA CEO, said: ‘The committee has finished its work, and we had two bids, and both bids were accepted.’ It is understood that of the two consortia, one is led by LINKdotNET Egypt, which was recently sold to mobile network operator Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil), and includes affiliates of local telecoms group Orascom Telecom. The other licence-winning group is believed to include Vodafone Egypt.

Alongside the announcement that the triple-play concessions had been awarded the NTRA also announced that it had appealed against a court ruling which overturned a ruling it made in September 2008 lowering interconnection rates. Last month it was revealed that a Cairo court had reversed the NTRA’s ruling following an appeal by MobiNil. ‘We've appealed that, and our decision is still on... We believe that we have a just case and we will prevail at the end,’ Badawi said of the matter.

Orascom In Bid To Acquire Polish, Serbian Operators

Orascom Telecom Holding chairman Naguib Sawiris has told Egyptian state-owned newspaper, al-Ahram that his company is looking at acquiring Polish mobile phone operator Polkomtel and Serbia's Telekom Srbija. Sawiris did not reveal details of either acquisition.

Polkomtel is currently 21.85% owned by Poland's largest power group, PGE, while oil refiner PKN Orlen and copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz each hold 24.39%. Polish state-owned coalminer Weglokoks has 5%, while Vodafone Group holds 24.39% of shares. Telekom Srbija meanwhile is 80% state-owned, but in March the government announced plans to sell half its stake. Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) owns the remainder.

Orascom Telecom itself is majority owned by Rome-based Weather Investments. Sawiris and his family own the majority of Weather, which owns 51% of Orascom Telecom Holding, plus Italian cellco Wind Telecomunicazioni and Greek telco Wind Hellas.

Orascom Sells Off ISP's

Egyptian telecoms group Orascom Telecom has announced the sale of its two local internet subsidiaries – LINKdotNET (Egypt) and Link Egypt – to mobile network operator Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) for USD130 million. According to Orascom, InTouch Communications, a wholly-owned Orascom subsidiary inked a share sale and purchase agreement with MobiNil, with the deal excluding the non-ISP part of Link Egypt's business, while the other non-connectivity business (LINK Development, LINKonLINE, Connect Ads, Arab Finance Brokerage Company and Arpu+) will also remain under the ownership of Orascom.

The announcement followed the revelation that last week MobiNil shareholders had agreed to the purchase, with the acquisition part of an agreement that settled the long-running legal dispute between Orascom and France Telecom, the two major shareholders in the cellco. Orascom had previously postponed the sale until the settlement of its dispute with the French company.

Telecel Shareholders Disagree Over Zimbabwe Listing

Members of Zimbabwe's Empowerment Corporation (EC) consortium, which holds a 40% stake in mobile operator Telecel Zimbabwe, have denied reports that they agreed with proposals from the cellco's 60% owner Telecel International to list an 11% stake on the local stock market. State-backed newspaper The Herald reports that Telecel International, a holding company owned by Egypt's Orascom Telecom, claimed it had agreed with EC to float the shares on the Zimbabwean bourse to reduce the foreign-held shareholding to 49% in compliance with ‘empowerment and indigenisation' laws and telecoms regulations, but several EC members wrote to Transport, Communications & Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche and Youth Development, Indigenisation & Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere denying any involvement in the proposal. Venturas and Samukange, lawyers representing Dr Jane Mutasa, head of the Indigenous Business Women's Organisation, a 17% shareholder in EC, issued a statement saying: ‘It has been brought to our attention that Telecel Zimbabwe has placed a notice in local newspapers alleging that an agreement has been made between shareholders of Empowerment Corporation and Telecel Zimbabwe ... That statement is false. There is no such agreement between the shareholders and in particular Dr Jane Mutasa.’ The lawyers added that Mutasa had not participated in any negotiations related to the planned divestment since 18 March, and asserted that any discussions and agreements entered into without her participation were ‘null and void.’

‘Our client denies participating in the alleged proposal to have the company listed on the local stock exchange. Our client has not participated in the [proposed] alleged issuing of new [Telecel Zimbabwe] shares,’ the statement continued.

Telecel Zimbabwe is owned by Orascom Telecom’s Telecel Globe division (60%, registered to Telecel International), and EC (40%), itself comprising Kestrel (23%), IEG (18%), Indigenous Business Women's Organisation (17%), National Miners' Association (14%), Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (14%) and Magamba eChimurenga (14%). EC was originally given pre-emptive rights to acquire an 11% stake from Telecel International by the government.

The state gave Telecel a deadline of 30 June 2007 to comply with ownership rules; after failing to meet the conditions – largely because of the hyperinflation that paralysed Zimbabwe’s economy – the cellco has technically been operating without a valid licence ever since.

Telecel Zim Plans To Comply With Ownership Rules

Telecel Globe, a part of Egyptian group Orascom Telecom, has submitted its proposals to reduce its 60% shareholding in cellco Telecel Zimbabwe to 49% to comply with the country’s indigenisation regulations. A letter containing the proposals was submitted to Transport, Communication & Infrastructure Development Minister Nicholas Goche and Indigenisation & Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwean Sunday newspaper The Standard reports. Telecel Globe said in a statement that the letter was approved by both of the GSM operator’s shareholders, holding company Telecel International and the local Empowerment Corporation.

The statement added that ‘there are no other shareholders in Telecel Zimbabwe and there never have been any others, although some people seem intent on misrepresenting themselves as being shareholders,’ referring to various claims on the company’s future ownership rights, mostly from individuals associated with groups that make up the collective Empowerment Corporation stake.

Telecel International, as a foreign shareholder, was obliged, both in terms of the Indigenisation Act and the licence that regulator POTRAZ issued to Telecel Zimbabwe in 2002, to reduce its shareholding from 60% to 49%. ‘Section 12.1.3 of the licence states that the licensee shall within five years from the date of signing of the licence ensure that the foreign ownership is reduced to 49%,’ the statement said, whilst clarifying that ‘It has not been possible, due to hyperinflation, to reduce shareholding within the stipulated period through the sale of shares, as nobody in Zimbabwe was able at the time to guarantee international euro or United States dollar loans.’

FT, Orascom Finally Agree On Mobinil

The long-running battle for control of Egyptian mobile network operator Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) looks close to being resolved after European telecoms giant France Telecom (FT) and Egyptian group Orascom Telecom announced that they had reached a tentative agreement.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, the proposed accord was announced by the two parties in conjunction with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), which had overseen negotiations. It is understood that under the terms of the deal MobiNil’s current corporate structure will remain unchanged, as will existing voting rights in the cellco, with a statement announcing the deal noting: ‘The two groups will continue their partnership on a renewed basis going forward, implementing a revised shareholder agreement but with no change to the existing ownership structure or their shareholders' voting rights ... This agreement will allow the two telecoms operators to contribute their respective know-how and added value to the successful and profitable development of MobiNil.’

Further, the proposals will also see the integration of local internet service provider LINKdotNET Egypt, at present a wholly-owned Orascom subsidiary, into MobiNil, while FT has also reportedly agreed to change its accounting methods to fully consolidate MobiNil. FT and Orascom claim that the agreement will include settlements for all existing disputes between the shareholders, and full details will be made public once the deal has been finalised, which is expected to be ‘within weeks’.

The revelation comes hot on the heels of the announcement earlier this week that an Egyptian court had upheld an appeal by Orascom which blocked a proposed buyout of MobiNil by FT; FT had offered EGP245 (USD44.4) per share for the stake it did not hold in the mobile operator. MobiNil is owned by MobiNil Telecom (51%) and Orascom Telecom (20%), with the remaining 29% publicly floated. MobiNil Telecom is itself owned by FT (71.2%) and Orascom (28.8%), but following an April 2009 ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Orascom was instructed to sell its stake in the holding company to the French outfit.

Ft and Orascom Plan to Resolve Dispute Over Mobinil

France Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding have presented a joint plan to resolve their long running and acrimonious dispute over the ownership of Egyptian mobile network, Mobinil. The agreement, which has been signed today and will be finalized over the coming weeks, will effectively bring to an end all disputes in relation to their joint investment in Mobinil.

In a statement, FT said that the two groups will continue their partnership on a renewed basis going forward, implementing a revised shareholder agreement but with no change to the existing ownership structure or their shareholders' voting rights.

The agreement also includes the integration of LINKdotNET - the leading ISP in Egypt - into their holding company, ECMS, allowing the company, subject to the approval of its corporate bodies, to extend broadband and corporate communications services to its 26 million customers; and create value for its shareholders and its 3,500 employees. Dr. Tarek Kamel, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology welcomed this step as the merge between the mobile services and internet services.

Stephane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, said: "I am very satisfied that we have reached an agreement with an entrepreneur such as Naguib Sawiris. Our two groups will now be able to continue working together in order to further contribute to the development of telecommunications services and information technology in Egypt. This market is very important for France Telecom and we will continue to invest and contribute our know-how in the years to come. In addition, this will also reinforce our commitment to maintain a strong R&D and Orange Business Services presence in Egypt."

As a result of the amended shareholder agreement, France Telecom will change its accounting method and will fully consolidate ECMS (ECMS was consolidated through proportional integration in 2009 and before).

The amended shareholder agreement will avail Orascom Telecom Holding operational rights commensurate with its co-owner and strategic partner position, in addition to protection and liquidity rights. Going forward, Orascom Telecom Holding will consolidate its participation in ECMS through equity method.

The outlined agreement will include settlements for all the disputes between the shareholders, the details of which will be communicated once the comprehensive agreement has been finalized.

Court Blocks FT Share Offer For Mobinil

 The Egyptian Administrative Court has blocked a tender offer by France Telecom for shares in Egypt's Mobinil, citing principles of transparency and equal opportunity. At the heart of the matter is a long running dispute between France Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding over control of the Egyptian mobile network operator.

Last March, ­the Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of France Telecom, which has a 71.25% stake in a holding company, also called Mobinil, authorizing it to acquire the 28.75% interest in Mobinil held by Orascom Telecom.

Mobinil owns 51% of ECMS, Egypt's leading mobile operator, which markets its services under the Mobinil brand. This company is listed on the Cairo and Alexandria stock exchange. Orascom Telecom directly owns a 20% stake in ECMS.

Last December, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority approved a tender offer from France Telecom for ECMS outstanding shares at EGP245 each. Orascom has appealed the offer to the court, saying the price is lower than the EGP273 originally agreed to by the international arbitrator. However, the arbitrator had also said that a lower figure could be offered, if France Telecom is able to justify the difference.