Econet Ordered To Restore Interconnection With NetOne

Zimbabwe’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, Econet Wireless, has been forced to reverse its decision to switch off interconnection with state-owned NetOne.

Econet decided to cut services to NetOne owing a dispute over interconnection fees amounting to more than USD20 million that Econet claimed had been unpaid since 2009. However, the country’s high court has now ordered Econet to resume interconnection with NetOne. Econet says it is also trying to recover unpaid interconnection fees from TelOne.

And, in a separate development, Econet says it has begun taking delivery of new equipment that will see the capacity of its mobile network increase to ten million subscribers.

‘Shipment of the equipment, which began in the last few days, is expected to continue well into next year. The equipment is being supplied by Ericsson of Sweden and the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE,’ the company said in a statement. ‘The new expansion drive by Econet is also expected to see its investment in Zimbabwe exceed USD1 billion, the largest ever in the country’s history. It follows the approval by the Econet board to "mop up" the remaining demand for lines in the Zimbabwe market.’

At the end of June 2012 Econet had almost seven million subscribers, corresponding to a market share of around 65%.

Orange Is Only Bidder For Congo Telecom

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has confirmed that France Telecom (FT) is the only bidder for its 49% stake in Congo Chine Telecom (CCT). 


Already in talks with Chinese vendor ZTE for its 51% share of the company, FT is expected to pay around EUR300 million (USD) in total for the operator, a reflection of its level of debt, rather than its value. 


Reuters reports that, Elie Girard, FT’s executive director said that this is an ‘important step, but not the final step of the process of the withdrawal of the state from CCT and the acquisition’. 


The move is part of a broader strategy from FT to increase its presence in emerging markets to offset increasing competition and declining revenues in Europe.

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According to local news source Nyasa Times, the cellco’s concession was withdrawn because of its failure to meet specific rollout targets stipulated under the terms of its licence.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.

Cell C Inks USD378m Contract With ZTE

Chinese equipment vendor ZTE has announced that it has entered into a network supply and a managed services contract with Cell C, South Africa’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers.

Under the USD378 million contract ZTE will provide Cell C with GSM-based equipment while supporting the cellco’s ongoing network expansion.

Cell C is planning to invest heavily in its networks over the next twelve months, spending a total of ZAR5 billion (USD659.98 million) on network upgrades, including the deployment of a 3.5G HSPA+ network.

MegaTech Invest US$500m to Begin CDMA Rollout

Nigerian telecom operator, MegaTech Networks says that it plans to invest at least US$500 million to roll out a CDMA based network across 23 of the country's 36 states. The company was recently granted a Unified Access Licence from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which includes support for 3G services.

The company has already signed a US$100 million contract with China's ZTE for network infrastructure supplies. Services are expected to be launched before the middle of this year.

Chairman of the company, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar said at a recent press conference that the company is seeking an outside investor to assist in financing the national network rollout