Libyan Rebels Launch Mobile Network

According to the UK's Daily Telegraph, rebels in Eastern Libya have set up their own independent mobile phone network, less than a month after they were cut off from the country's centralised infrastructure, which required all calls to be routed through the international gateway in Tripoli. 

The new network, called 'Free Libyana', is the brainchild of UAE-based telecoms executive Ousama Abushagur, a Libyan national who was raised in Alabama. He admitted that the the move was necessitated after humanitarian convoys that he had organised suffered logistical problems because the Gaddafi government was broadcasting jamming signals to cripple the satellite telephones used by the rebels.

Free Libyana was supplied with the necessary telecoms equipment by UAE telecoms giant Etisalat, which stepped in when Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei rejected Abushagur's approach; an unnamed Libyan businessman based in the UAE bankrolled the project.

 The network was rolled out by a team of international telecoms engineers – three Libyans and four Westerners – who flew to Egypt before crossing the border into Libya and commencing work in the rebel-held capital Benghazi. 

The rebels were reportedly aided by Benghazi-based employees of Libyana, the country's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers. According to Abushagur the new network launched on 2 April, and currently has 750,000 active SIM cards in operation. Although the network is widely available in the east of the country, international calling is limited to selected senior rebel figures.

FT Continues With Plans To Purchase Korek

France Telecom (FT) is proceeding with the purchase of a stake in Iraqi cellco Korek Telecom, after it was chosen as a preferred bidder over South Africa’s MTN, according to a report by Middle East business intelligence service MEED.

The GSM operator, based in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, won a nationwide licence in 2007 and has proceeded to branch out from its northern homeland to cover central and southern regions of Iraq. Korek is Iraq’s third largest cellco by subscribers.

The MEED report adds that Korek, with a customer base approaching three million in a market with room for growth, is an attractive asset for the French group, which recently expanded in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region by purchasing a 40% stake in Morocco’s Meditel.

FT is looking to increase its territorial presence further via more acquisitions, with the overall aims of doubling its revenues and reaching 300 million subscribers worldwide. The deal, which is yet to be finalised, would also assist Korek’s further expansion plans with the investment of a global player, whilst also representing a cheaper option for FT than bidding for a new licence in Iraq and building a network from scratch.

Meanwhile, FT has recently established research and development labs in Amman and Cairo to create services and products specific to the Middle East market.


Providing a cautionary note, UAE-based Etisalat previously failed to negotiate a stake purchase in Korek, saying that the Iraqi firm demanded ‘too much for too little’ in talks with the Abu Dhabi operator more than two years ago.

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).

Etisalt H1 Results Reveal 2% Growth

UAE-based telecoms operator Etisalat has announced its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2010, reporting 2% year-on-year growth in revenue to AED16.0 billion (USD4.35 billion), up from AED15.7 billion in the same period in 2009. Net profit for the six-month period totalled AED3.9 billion, compared to AED4.6 billion in 1H09.

Meanwhile, revenue generated in the second quarter of 2010 was unchanged year-on-year at AED8.1 billion, while net profit in the three-month period slipped 21% to AED1.9 billion, down from AED2.4 billion in 2Q09, due to increasing competition from the company’s sole rival in the UAE telecoms market, Du. At 30 June 2010 Etisalat recorded 7.8 million mobile subscribers in the UAE – an increase of 90,000 on the previous quarter – as well as 1.28 million domestic fixed line and 1.39 million internet customers. ‘Etisalat has followed a powerful strategy to offset the potential impact of today's global economic conditions which continue to affect the results of companies around the world,’ commented Mohammad Omran, chairman of Etisalat, adding: ‘We have seized opportunities to stand strong and have faced all the challenges and continue to achieve exceptional results.’

Etisalat In Deal With India's Reliance

According to the Financial Times, UAE-based Emirates Telecomunications Company (Etisalat) is close to acquiring a 26% stake in India’s second largest mobile network operator by subscribers, Reliance Communications (RCOM). Citing people familiar with the negotiations between the two companies, the report claims that in a bid to overcome any potential regulatory obstacles to a deal a merger of RCOM with Etisalat’s Indian unit, Swan Telecom, could be considered.

Under existing Indian telecoms norms no company may own more than 10% in two separate telecoms entities in the country. It is believed that a tie-up between RCOM and Etisalat could come as early as next month, although other sources have suggested that it may take until the end of the year for such a deal to come to fruition.

Etisalat Hits 4 Million Mark In Nigeria

Mobile operator Etisalat Nigeria has announced it has attracted four million active wireless customers since it launched commercial services in October 2008, local newspaper Daily Champion reports.

The company has gradually expanded coverage of its GSM network, which is currently available in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, noted: ‘We are glad to be able to make such a momentous announcement like this after less than two years of commercial operations in Nigeria's highly competitive environment, especially given our position as the fifth entrant into the dynamic Nigerian telecoms market.’

Etisalat Nigeria is 40%-owned by UAE incumbent Etisalat, with 30% owned by UAE government investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company, and the remainder by Nigerian investors.

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.

We Are Not Talking With Zain, Says Etisalat

UAE telecoms operator Etisalat has said it has not submitted a bid or made a proposal to purchase a stake in Kuwait-based Zain Group, cellular-news reports.

The statement followed a recent report from Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah, which said that Zain had entered into talks to sell a majority stake in the group to Etisalat.

Earlier this month Zain's chief executive, Nabeel bin Salama, said the firm was not in talks to sell further assets, after it completed the sale of its African assets to Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel, in a deal valued at USD10.7 billion.

Zain In Talks To Sell sTake to Etisalat

Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain Group has entered into talks with Etisalat to sell a majority stake in the group to the UAE-based operator, Reuters reports, citing Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah.

Without providing details about the size of the stake or the price, the report states that both firms held meetings last week to discuss the potential deal.

Earlier this month Zain completed the sale of its African assets to Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel, in a deal valued at USD10.7 billion.

Meanwhile, though Etisalat has yet to confirm the Zain reports, the Abu Dhabi-based operator has admitted it is looking at options in India, including a 26% stake in telco Reliance Communications.

MTN "Could Be Planning Move to Dubai"

No confirmation or denial has been given by mobile operator MTN regarding its plans to abandon SA in favor of Dubai, a location closer to its higher revenue earners.


It has been speculated that company plans to move its group operations out of the country and eventually delist from the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. It may leave the local business as a subsidiary of the company, or even up for sale.

MTN is already registered in the Middle Eastern country which is said to be the head office for its Middle East and North African operations.

Several MTN groups operation unit has been quietly moving its operations without making any local splash about the plans.

Etisalat Hits 100 Million Mark

UAE-based telecoms operator Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) has revealed that its subscriber base has exceeded 100 million customers across 18 markets in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, covering two billion people. The announcement follows Etisalat’s acquisition of the remaining 18% of its West African venture Atlantique Telecom (AT) it did not already own for USD75 million earlier this month.

Etisalat operates AT as part of a ten-year management contract ending in 2015; the company holds majority stakes in seven operators in Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Togo, and Central Africa Republic. At the same time, the UAE incumbent revealed it had filed an application with the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in December 2009 to obtain approval to raise its 45% stake in its Indian subsidiary Etisalat DB to 50% plus one share. The company has said it is targeting majority stakes in its subsidiaries and associates for greater operational and financial synergy.

Etisalat Makes Roaming Easier

The UAE's Etisalat has simplified its roaming tariffs with flat rates based on which of three zones the customer is in at the time. The roaming zones are; the GCC (Gulf countries), other Arab countries, and the rest of the world.

Etisalat Posts 5% Increase in 2009 Revenues

UAE-based telecoms operator Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) has reported its preliminary consolidated results for the year ended 31 December 2009, announcing net revenues of AED30.83 billion (USD8.93 billion), an increase of 5% compared to AED29.36 billion posted in 2008. The company’s net profit for full-year 2009 rose to AED8.836 billion, up from AED8.511 billion a year earlier, which included profit from the sale of shares in Saudi cellco Mobily of AED892 million.

Excluding this exceptional item, net profit after federal royalty for 2009 would have increased by AED1.217 billion, 16% higher than 2008. Total assets increased 13% to AED40.38 billion compared to AED35.62 billion in 2008. Etisalat did not reveal quarterly figures, but Reuters has calculated 4Q09 profit at AED1.99 billion (39% higher than the year-ago quarter), based on previous financial statements.

The number of Etisalat’s domestic mobile subscribers exceeded 7.74 million at 31 December 2009, up 6% year-on-year, while fixed line customers reached 1.31 million (a fall from 1.358 million in 2008) and internet subscribers grew 16% in 2009 to total 1.33 million, although the company did not reveal how many of those were broadband users. In 2009 Etisalat launched its ‘eLife’ fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network and is currently working on making Abu Dhabi the first capital city in the world to be totally connected by fibre-optic infrastructure. The company is also aiming to make the UAE one of the first countries in the world to be entirely covered with fibre-optic services in 2011.

Zain Denies It's In Talks With Asian Group

* Zain says unaware of stake sale talks after report

* Shares close 1.6 percent higher

Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain said on Sunday it was not aware of talks between shareholders and an Asian group after a newspaper reported stake sale negotiations.

The firm said in July that it was still reviewing a possible sale of its African operations -- excluding Morocco and Sudan -- after French media and telecoms conglomerate Vivendi broke off talks on buying the operations.

Kuwait's Al-Rai newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said on Sunday that Zain's largest shareholders were in talks with a major Asian telecoms group to sell more than 40 percent of the firm.

"Zain would like to clarify that regarding what has been published in a local newspaper about negotiations between a major Asian group and shareholders, the executive management of the company is not aware of this subject, which is up to shareholders," Zain said in a statement on the bourse website.

Sovereign wealth fund Kuwait Investment Authority owns 24.61 percent of Zain. Kuwaiti family-owned conglomerate Kharafi Group is Zain's second largest shareholder, with 13.3 percent.

Neither KIA nor Kharafi were immediately available for comment. A Zain spokesman declined to comment further.

Zain ended 1.6 percent higher on the bourse on Sunday.

"There is an enormous amount of rumours about Zain," said Naser al-Nafisi, general manager at Al Joman Center for Economic consultancy in Kuwait. "If there's anything going on between the shareholders, the management should know about it."

The newspaper, which did not identify the Asian group, cited unidentified sources as saying that the biggest shareholders in Zain had "the ability and the suitable mechanism to provide the required majority stake".

Sale talk has swirled around Zain in recent weeks.

The head of the international unit of Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) said in July that the UAE firm was interested in buying a 51-percent stake in Zain, "given the right values".

Zain said on July 1 that it was working with Swiss investment bank UBS and other consultants to review its strategy as a result of the global financial downturn.

- Reuters

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

Nokia to Open Music Store in South Africa

Nokia has announced its intention to bring the Nokia Music Store to South Africa. The store, which will open its doors on 24 April 2009, promises to make millions of digital tracks available to local consumers.

“Not only will we have millions of tracks available for consumers, but we will have something for everyone, whatever their music tastes. The store will feature a broad range of genres including popular and non-mainstream genres, independent artists and most importantly, a wide selection of South African artists,” said Jake Larsen, Nokia’s head of music for Middle East and Africa.

“In addition, the Nokia Music Store will offer a host of interactive features such as music browsing and personal track recommendations.”

South African users will be able to access the Nokia Music Store via their personal computer or directly from Nokia devices including the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia N96, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N82 and the Nokia N79. 

All music on the Nokia Music Store can be purchased through a variety of payment options, including credit cards and pre-paid vouchers.

South Africa is the 12th country to see a local launch of the Nokia Music Store. Most recently the store was launched in Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.