Telecom Namibia says it is ‘ready’ to connect the country to the West African Cable System (WACS), a consortium high speed submarine system linking Africa to Europe, which it hopes will lead to higher-bandwidth, cheaper data and voice services for all end-users. The USD600 million fibre-optic cable has reached the shores of Namibia, whilst Telecom has already deployed infrastructure to link its landing station at Swakopmund to its domestic network and expects that commercial services could be launched by the second quarter of this year, reports local newspaper New Era. The project will give Namibia its first direct access to global submarine cable networks.
The WACS consortium consists of twelve companies: Angola Cables, Broadband Infraco, Cable & Wireless, Congo Telecom, MTN, Office Congolais des Postes et Telecommunications, Portugal Telecom/Cabo Verde Telecom, Tata Communications/Neotel, Telecom Namibia, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom. The main contractor is Alcatel-Lucent.
Showing posts with label Portugal Telecom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portugal Telecom. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
CV Movel Plans to Acquire 3G Licence
An official source from Portugal Telecom told the paper that the bid on the tender was submitted on 31 January, but declined to disclose the value of the planned investments in the island nation.
Portugal Telecom has a 40% stake in CV Movel. Other bidders taking part in the 3G auction are T+ and Cabo TLC de Sao Vicente. Cape Verde's telecommunications regulator ANAC will announce the result of the tender in March.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Mozambique Urges Firms to Share Infrastructure
In an interview with independent daily O Pais, Mozambique's Minister of Transport and Communications, Paulo Zucula, has urged the country's two mobile phone operators, mCel and Vodacom, to share their mobile phone masts in order to reduce costs, protect the landscape and ultimately enable increased coverage in remote areas.
Zucula commented: ‘The fact that each operator has its own infrastructure demands huge investment, which takes a long time to carry out. Furthermore, if we don't adopt this measure, we shall fill the country with redundant, unnecessary masts. It's a question of rationalisation’.
He indicated that both Vodacom and M-Cell are in favour of the idea, whilst conceding that financial disputes may yet cause a stumbling block: ‘I think that they're in favour. Sharing will allow better use to be made of their infrastructures, and so I doubt that they'll reject it. Since it's a business, problems could arise, but I think they agree with the principle’. He added that sharing infrastructures would make it easier for new operators to enter the market.
Three out of 22 interested parties were shortlisted to become Mozambique’s third mobile phone operator in July 2010. The three in question are TMN (the cellular unit of Portugal Telecom), UNI-Telecom (a joint venture between Angolan cellco Unitel and Mozambique’s Energy Capital) and a Vietnam-backed bidder named Movitel. The winner is expected to be announced in November. Mozambique is currently home to mCel with an estimated four million customers in June 2010 and Vodacom with 1.57 million at the same date. Wireless penetration stands at 25%, leaving plenty of room for growth.
Zucula commented: ‘The fact that each operator has its own infrastructure demands huge investment, which takes a long time to carry out. Furthermore, if we don't adopt this measure, we shall fill the country with redundant, unnecessary masts. It's a question of rationalisation’.
He indicated that both Vodacom and M-Cell are in favour of the idea, whilst conceding that financial disputes may yet cause a stumbling block: ‘I think that they're in favour. Sharing will allow better use to be made of their infrastructures, and so I doubt that they'll reject it. Since it's a business, problems could arise, but I think they agree with the principle’. He added that sharing infrastructures would make it easier for new operators to enter the market.
Three out of 22 interested parties were shortlisted to become Mozambique’s third mobile phone operator in July 2010. The three in question are TMN (the cellular unit of Portugal Telecom), UNI-Telecom (a joint venture between Angolan cellco Unitel and Mozambique’s Energy Capital) and a Vietnam-backed bidder named Movitel. The winner is expected to be announced in November. Mozambique is currently home to mCel with an estimated four million customers in June 2010 and Vodacom with 1.57 million at the same date. Wireless penetration stands at 25%, leaving plenty of room for growth.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
FT 'Planning to Buy Meditel'
Reuters reports that France Telecom (Orange) is in ‘advanced’ talks with the owners of Morocco's second largest mobile operator Medi Telecom (Meditel) to acquire a 40% share in the company.
Moroccan business weekly Acutel wrote over the weekend, ‘It is official. The negotiations between the owners of Meditel, CDG and Finance.com, and Orange are at an advanced stage,’ and went on to speculate that the stake could be priced at around EUR650 million (USD849 million). Spain's Telefonica and Portugal Telecom last year sold their respective stakes of 32.2% each in Meditel to the operator's other shareholders, Moroccan private investment group Finance.com and state investment vehicle Caisse de Depots et de Gestion (CDG) for USD1.15 billion in total.
Whilst the domestic owners have declared they can run the company alone, they have also indicated their openness to a range of options including a stock market listing and a partnership with a new, major player strategic investor. In March 2010 it was rumoured that the UAE’s Etisalat had ‘agreed’ to acquire a 45% interest in Meditel, which offers cellular, broadband and fixed line services, but a deal did not materialise.
TeleGeography's GlobalComms Database notes that France Telecom sold its Moroccan ISP Maroc Connect (Wanadoo) in August 2004 to the CDG and ONA groups, before ONA bought out CDG in 2005; Maroc Connect became Wana, which launched the successful fixed-wireless and cellular brands Bayn and Inwi, along the way attracting a new foreign investor, Kuwait-based Zain Group.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Three Shortlisted For Mozambique's Third Licence
Three out of 22 interested parties have been shortlisted to become Mozambique's third mobile phone operator, the National Institute of Communications (INCM) has announced. The three in question are TMN (the cellular unit of Portugal Telecom), UNI-Telecom (a joint venture between Angolan cellco Unitel and Mozambique's Energy Capital) and a Vietnam-backed bidder named Movitel.
The ownership of the Vietnamese company was not reported. However, Vietnamese military-run GSM operator Viettel previously announced plans to seek investment opportunities in other developing countries including Mozambique, following its recent takeover of the Haitian operator Teleco.
INCM director Americo Muchanga commented: ‘The three have presented required documents. Technical and financial proposals will be evaluated over the next two months after which we will announce the winning bid’.
Mozambique is currently home to Mcel with an estimated 3.7 million customers in March 2010 and Vodacom with 1.49 million at the same date. Wireless penetration stands at 23.8%, leaving plenty of room for growth.
The ownership of the Vietnamese company was not reported. However, Vietnamese military-run GSM operator Viettel previously announced plans to seek investment opportunities in other developing countries including Mozambique, following its recent takeover of the Haitian operator Teleco.
INCM director Americo Muchanga commented: ‘The three have presented required documents. Technical and financial proposals will be evaluated over the next two months after which we will announce the winning bid’.
Mozambique is currently home to Mcel with an estimated 3.7 million customers in March 2010 and Vodacom with 1.49 million at the same date. Wireless penetration stands at 23.8%, leaving plenty of room for growth.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Four ZAMTEL Bidders Submit Bids
Of the eight companies shortlisted in the sale process of a 75% stake in Zambian fixed line incumbent Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel), only three have submitted bids. According to the Times of Zambia the three foreign companies to submit their offers to the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) for the telco are India’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Unitel of Angola and Libya-based LAP Greencom.
A fourth bid, from a consortium of Russia’s Vimpelcom and the telecoms arm of the Alfa Group, Altimo, was understood to have been sent on time, but reportedly arrived at the ZDA offices five minutes after the submission deadline as a result of ‘logistical reasons’. The bid however was still considered, and the ZDA board confirmed that Altimo’s non-binding offer had been accepted today. The four companies that had been shortlisted but chose not to bid were Telkom South Africa, BSNL’s fellow state-owned Indian telco Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Portugal Telecom and a consortium of Egypt-based Orascom Telecom and its subsidiary Telecel Globe.
ZDA acting director general, Muhabi Lungu, after opening the bids said the ZDA would now study the offers, while also passing the details on to the board of Zamtel for its evaluation. Mr Lungu has stated that the ZDA will announce which of the companies will move on to the next stage in the sale process on 11 January 2010, where another due diligence would be undertaken before the successful bidder is chosen.
A fourth bid, from a consortium of Russia’s Vimpelcom and the telecoms arm of the Alfa Group, Altimo, was understood to have been sent on time, but reportedly arrived at the ZDA offices five minutes after the submission deadline as a result of ‘logistical reasons’. The bid however was still considered, and the ZDA board confirmed that Altimo’s non-binding offer had been accepted today. The four companies that had been shortlisted but chose not to bid were Telkom South Africa, BSNL’s fellow state-owned Indian telco Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Portugal Telecom and a consortium of Egypt-based Orascom Telecom and its subsidiary Telecel Globe.
ZDA acting director general, Muhabi Lungu, after opening the bids said the ZDA would now study the offers, while also passing the details on to the board of Zamtel for its evaluation. Mr Lungu has stated that the ZDA will announce which of the companies will move on to the next stage in the sale process on 11 January 2010, where another due diligence would be undertaken before the successful bidder is chosen.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Angola's Unitel To Carry Out US$1.7billion In Network Upgrade
Angolan mobile network operator, Unitel says that it will spend around US$1.7 billion over the next four years upgrading its infrastructure and expanding the mobile network. The government approved the increased capital spending last month.
Earlier this year, Ericsson signed a three-year contract for network performance consulting and continued expansion of Unitel's GSM/WCDMA network.
Henrique da Silva, Unitel's investment director, told Bloomberg News that Unitel's network now covers 138 of the country's 168 municipalities and it expects to reach all of them by 2012. Unitel will also be involved in a project to build the country's first satellite by 2011, he added.
A recent report from Frost&Sullivan expected that revenues in the Angolan mobile communications market would triple by 2015. Angola is expected to license a third operator in 2010.
The company is owned by Portugal Telecom, Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol and local firms Geni and Vidatel, each hold 25 percent of Unitel.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Etisalat To Bid for Meditel as it Eyes Africa & Middle East
Emirates Telecommunications Corp said it would bid for a stake in Morocco's Meditel as it seeks acquisitions in the Middle East and Africa, adding asset prices were likely to fall further.
Emirates Telecom, known as Etisalat, would also continue to pursue the telecom license in Iran it was stripped of last week, its Chairman Mohammed Hassan Omran told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea in Jordan.
"We are looking for opportunities in the Middle East and Africa, especially at this time there are some good assets," Omran told Reuters Financial Television. "Assets are becoming cheap ... we see them becoming more cheap in coming months."
Portugal Telecom has appointed Morgan Stanley to sell its 32 percent stake in Meditel, Morocco's second-largest telecoms company, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
"We are expecting Morocco ... We are participating in the bid for Morocco... Meditel and we are working hard for Syria and Lebanon," Omran said, without giving further details.
The telecom operator is facing stiffer competition in its home market the United Arab Emirates, the second-largest Arab economy, where some analysts expect job cuts and expected population declines could way on future earnings of Etisalat and rival du DU.DU.
"We are working hard to maintain that and even get it better," Omran said when asked if Etisalat was likely to be able to match a 4-percent rise in profit it achieved in the first quarter.
He said the UAE market is becoming more difficult because expatriates are leaving, but Etisalat expected growth in Saudi Arabia, where its affiliate Etihad Etisalat 7020.SE was doing "better than expected."
Etisalat Egypt, the third mobile phone operator in the North African country, was also performing "better than competitors," Omran said. Saudi Arabia is the most-populous Gulf Arab country while Egypt has the largest population in the Arab world.
Etisalat said in January it planned to invest up to $5 billion over five years in its Iranian operation after winning the country's third mobile telephone license.
But Iran said on May 11 it had granted a consortium led by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co the license instead because a group including Etisalat and Iran's Tamin Telecom "had not fulfilled its obligations.
"In Iran, we made the best bid. Our partner could not continue and that ended up disqualifying the consortium," Omran said. "We are evaluating the possibilities. It is the big market and it has a lot of potential. But it is complex. The game is not over for us in Iran."
-Reuters
Emirates Telecom, known as Etisalat, would also continue to pursue the telecom license in Iran it was stripped of last week, its Chairman Mohammed Hassan Omran told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea in Jordan.
"We are looking for opportunities in the Middle East and Africa, especially at this time there are some good assets," Omran told Reuters Financial Television. "Assets are becoming cheap ... we see them becoming more cheap in coming months."
Portugal Telecom has appointed Morgan Stanley to sell its 32 percent stake in Meditel, Morocco's second-largest telecoms company, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
"We are expecting Morocco ... We are participating in the bid for Morocco... Meditel and we are working hard for Syria and Lebanon," Omran said, without giving further details.
The telecom operator is facing stiffer competition in its home market the United Arab Emirates, the second-largest Arab economy, where some analysts expect job cuts and expected population declines could way on future earnings of Etisalat and rival du DU.DU.
"We are working hard to maintain that and even get it better," Omran said when asked if Etisalat was likely to be able to match a 4-percent rise in profit it achieved in the first quarter.
He said the UAE market is becoming more difficult because expatriates are leaving, but Etisalat expected growth in Saudi Arabia, where its affiliate Etihad Etisalat 7020.SE was doing "better than expected."
Etisalat Egypt, the third mobile phone operator in the North African country, was also performing "better than competitors," Omran said. Saudi Arabia is the most-populous Gulf Arab country while Egypt has the largest population in the Arab world.
Etisalat said in January it planned to invest up to $5 billion over five years in its Iranian operation after winning the country's third mobile telephone license.
But Iran said on May 11 it had granted a consortium led by Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co the license instead because a group including Etisalat and Iran's Tamin Telecom "had not fulfilled its obligations.
"In Iran, we made the best bid. Our partner could not continue and that ended up disqualifying the consortium," Omran said. "We are evaluating the possibilities. It is the big market and it has a lot of potential. But it is complex. The game is not over for us in Iran."
-Reuters
Monday, March 2, 2009
Maroc Telecom Wins Mali's Sotelma Bid
Maroc Telecom has agreed to acquire 51 percent of the Mali national operator Sotelma from the local government. The Mali government declared the Moroccan operator the provisional winner of the auction, reports news agency APA, citing a statement from Maroc Telecom.
Maroc Telecom reportedly offered EUR 252 million for the controlling stake in Sotelmea, beating offers from Sudatel and Portugal Telecom. The Mali government will maintain a 20 percent stake in Sotelma.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Mali Still Talking to Maroc Telecom Over Sotelma Sale
The government of Mali is still in talks to sell a majority stake in national operator Sotelma to Maroc Telecom, reports local daily L'Essor. Maroc Telecom presented its bid for a 51 percent stake in January.
The Moroccan operator, already active in several African countries, offered EUR 252 million, beating bids of EUR 111 million from Sudatel and EUR 80 million from Portugal Telecom, according to the paper.
The government has given itself three months to negotiate with Maroc Telecom, a communications ministry official told the paper. Two weeks ago a delegation from the Moroccan operator visited the country to continue the negotiations.
The ministry official said the government is hoping for an improvement in Maroc Telecom's offer, while also looking to secure certain guarantees on personnel and management after the privatisation. The government has already negotiated a social plan at Sotelma for 610 voluntary redundancies, out of total staff of 1,382.
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