Enhance your loving life

http://potenzaengenharia.net.br/pencil.html The key to the greatest love
life

Libyan Owned Uganda Telecom in Finacial Crisis

THE financial sustainability of Uganda Telecom (utl) remains uncertain following several claims of unpaid dues in billions owed to the firm’s partners and service providers. 

Among the companies seeking payment is MTN, which for the second time this year, has sued utl claiming unpaid sh9.3b accrued from interconnection charges, indicating a further deepening rift and uncertainty in the telecom industry. 

According to sources, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) is also demanding about sh6b from utl over non remitted contributions to the rural communication development funds. 

All telecom operators are required to remit 1% of their gross revenue to the commission for the fund. 

Sources revealed that a fortnight ago, the Uganda Media Owners Association also suspended any form of advertising from utl because of about sh3b unpaid dues accruing from advertising. 

The association comprises major media houses, including Monitor Publications, Vision Group, NTV, WBS, UBC, Capital FM, Simba and Sanyu FM. 

Airtel Uganda public relations officer Joseph Kanyamunyu said utl also owes them about sh8b from “interconnect and related charges.” 

MTN is also demanding another sh744m in interests accrued from May 31, 2011. 

“The actions of the defendant amount to breach of the interconnection agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant,” read the suit. 

“They have continuously disputed figures, but in this case they signed and acknowledged the debt, but we are half way the year and they have still failed to pay,” said an MTN official. 

The MTN suit filed on June 15 says the interconnect fees are for the period from January 2010 to December 2010. 

But utl chief Donald Nyakairu said there was nothing new in the law suit. “The only difference is in the figures, they are just causing anxiety within the public,” said Nyakairu. The suit follows an earlier one, filed about three months ago, over MTN’s claims of unpaid sh20b in interconnection charges that the telecom giant says was accumulated over a three-year period. 

The interconnection fee is the amount an operator pays another for routing traffic through their networks. 

David Ogong, the UCC director of competition and corporate affairs, said they had been mediating over this issue and the two players agreed to keep their networks connected until June 26, 2011. “We are advising the Government that we could have a big problem in our hands, we have tried our best to see that utl pays,” said Ogong. 

The Libyan government owns about 69% of utl under its investment arm, Libya Africa Investment Portfolio. The Government owns the rest. But a few months ago, government took over full control of utl partly complying with UN sanctions against Libyan assets in the wake of the political turmoil in the North African state.

Essar Denies It Is Selling Off Yu

Indian conglomerate the Essar Group has denied international media reports suggesting that it is looking to sell off its 70% stake in Kenyan mobile operator Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK), which operates under the ‘Yu’ brand.

The Essar Group hit back at the claims – which originated with India’s Economic Times earlier this week – commenting: ‘Essar remains committed to the African market and is satisfied with its operations in Kenya. It is not evaluating any sell off options’.

The original report coincided with the Essar Group’s admission that it has pulled out of a long-standing agreement to acquire telecoms assets in Uganda and the Republic of Congo. An unnamed source, with knowledge of the matter, suggested that the Indian firm no longer viewed telecoms as a core strategic interest.

Speculation was rife that South African telecoms giant MTN – a company with a long-held interest in securing a foothold the Kenyan wireless sector – was interested in buying out ETK. MTN is now believed to have distanced itself from the rumours.

Orascom Reports Losses of US$170 Million

Egypt’s Orascom Telecom has posted a net loss of USD169.53 million in the last three months of 2010 on the back of both the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar and increased pressure in foreign markets.

The company noted that as its primary accounts are held in Egyptian pounds the appreciation of the US dollar against the local currency had ‘had a significant effect on the mark to market value of the US dollar denominated debt at Orascom Telecom Holding of approximately USD3.5 billion.’ 


For the twelve months ended 31 December 2010 Orascom posted a net profit of USD781.45 million, more than double the USD378.63 million reported for 2009, which the company attributed predominantly to gains recognised as a result of its revised agreements with France Telecom regarding the ownership of Egyptian cellco MobiNil.

In terms of turnover, in 4Q 2010 Orascom reported revenues of USD980 million, while full-year revenues totalled USD3.825 billion, up 2% year-on-year; Orascom noted that it was not including results from Orascom Telecom Tunisia, which the company agreed to sell in January 2011.


All of the group’s subsidiaries reported revenue growth bar Algerian operator Djezzy, which Orascom noted had endured ‘the persistence of an adverse operating environment.’ Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 4Q10 stood at USD402.24 million, while in FY2010 it was USD1.584 billion, up 4% y-o-y. 

At end-December 2010 Orascom’s consolidated subscriber base was 101.683 million, with its Pakistani unit, Mobilink, accounting for the largest number of those, some 31.794 million, up 3.2% against end-2009. MobiNil reported a wireless subscriber base of 30.225 million at the end of the year, up almost 20% against end-2009, while the largest percentage increase was reported at Telecel Globe – which comprises the group’s operations in Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and Burundi – where customer numbers increased by 77.8% to 3.242 million.


Bangladeshi unit Banglalink meanwhile reported a subscriber base of 19.3327 million at 31 December 2010, up almost 40% compared to the same date a year earlier, which Orascom said was the result of aggressive acquisition and strong customer retention strategies.

Commenting on the results Khaled Bichara, Orascom’s Group CEO, said: ‘The year 2010 has proven to be a year of significant milestones aiding the growth of Orascom Telecom Holding on an operational and strategic level.’

Vodacom Announces 43.2Mbps HSPA+ Deployment

Mobile operator Vodacom South Africa has confirmed that it has exceeded 1,000 active 43.2Mbps HSPA+ sites on its network, the South African media reports.


Although the deployment has taken place over time, Vodacom stressed that it did not want to publicise the improved speeds until they had achieved ‘significant’ HSPA+ coverage.


CEO Pieter Uys commented: ‘We have actually had the technology up and running for some time, but we wanted to have a critical mass of at least 1,000 base stations before flipping the switch to allow consumers access at up to double the speed. We wanted to make sure that we had the service available in more than just one city’.

According to MyBroadband.co.za Vodacom currently has over 4,300 3G base stations in South Africa, of which 2,650 are 21Mbps enabled, with the remainder supporting transmission speeds of 14.4Mbps.


Further, Vodacom chief technical officer Andries Delport has disclosed that Vodacom plans to have a total of 2,000 HSPA+ towers upgraded to support transmission speeds of 43.2Mbps by May 2011. Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys had previously indicated that Vodacom intends to roll out an additional 1,000 3G base stations during 2011. Despite the increase in peak speeds Vodacom has said that it is focusing on increasing the average performance of its overall network, and will connect 2,000 mobile sites to fibre by the end of the current financial year. 

However, Delport tempered the announcement by conceding that speeds of up to 43.2Mbps are strictly theoretical, and depend on how many people are using the towers, and their proximity to the base stations; in a live HSPA+ test staged on Friday Vodacom demonstrated peak download speeds of around 37Mbps. There will be no increase in costs to existing subscribers, and compatible 43.2Mbps HSPA+ dongles are now available in Vodacom retail stores. Although precise rollout details are unknown, it is believed that most major metropolitan areas will be covered from the outset. 


Vodacom’s announcement came just days before rival Cell C was set to officially inaugurate its own 43.2Mbps HSPA+ network, in Port Elizabeth, on 19 April.

WACS Arrives Near Cape Town

Submarine communications cable the West Africa Cable System (WACS) has landed in Yzerfontein, near Cape Town. The 14,000km cable, which is expected to dock at 14 different landing points along the Western coast of Africa, before linking to the Canary Islands, Portugal and the UK, is set to commence commercial service in 1Q12. The total capacity of the system is 5.12Tbps, and at least 500Gbps will be lit at launch.

Investors in the WACS cable include South African telcos MTN, Vodacom, Telkom South Africa, Broadband Infraco and Neotel.


Angus Hay, head of strategic business development at Neotel, commented: ‘This is the dawn of a new era in the South African telecommunications industry. 


Since the launch of SEACOM and later EASSy, international bandwidth to South Africa has increased. The landing of WACS sets Neotel ahead of its competitors, as it is the only telecommunications operator that has direct access to all five undersea cables landing in South Africa: WACS, SEACOM, EASSy, SAT-3 and SAFE. 


For Neotel this means that our customers are highly unlikely to experience downtime since the traffic can be moved from one cable to another in case of any cable failure. The level of redundancy, reliability and security will now increase’.

Mauritius Telecom Reports 17% Growth In Profits

Mauritius Telecom (MT) said pre-tax profits rose 17% year-on-year to MUR2.4 billion (USD89.1 million) in 2010, driven by strong growth at its mobile division. MT added that net profits rose 16% from MUR1.4 billion to MUR1.7 billion, and revenue climbed 5.6% from MUR7.1 billion to MUR7.5 billion. The company’s chief executive officer Sarat Lallah said the mobile segment grew by 10.4% in FY2010 compared with 6.7% in FY2009, while the internet segment also grew strongly. 

MT, which is 40% owned by France Telecom and is the country’s dominant fixed line and mobile operator, has revealed plans to invest as much as MUR4.3 billion, or 50% of its reserves, in international projects in the short term. It claims to have ‘sufficient reserves’ and that it is in talks with unnamed telecoms providers in Uganda and Vanuatu.

It is also looking to start trading its shares on the Indian Ocean island nation’s bourse, pending approval from the government, Chairman Appalsamy Thomas has said. ‘We are waiting for the decision from the Ministry of Finance,’ he added, ‘Once it’s obtained, it will take us four months before listing.’ Under the plan the government, the State Bank of Mauritius and the National Pension Fund will reduce their stakes in the company through the listing. About 10% to 15% of shares will be traded on the nation’s exchange, CFO Cyprien Mateos said.

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.

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.

BPE Asks Omen to Confirm It's Interest in NITEL

Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has given Omen International, the reserve bidder for state-run telco Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL), two weeks to confirm it is still interested in buying the ailing former telecoms monopoly, Reuters reports, citing BPE director general Bolanle Onagoruwa. 

Last month the British Virgin Islands-registered Omen consortium, which includes China Unicom and Fiber Home Technologies Limited, was invited by the BPE to re-register its interest in buying NITEL, after preferred buyer New Generation Telecommunications repeatedly failed to meet the payment deadlines for its bid of USD2.5 billion. 

Omen offered USD956.9 million for a 75% stake in NITEL and its mobile arm M-Tel during the latest attempt to privatise the company, held in February 2010, however the company has so far failed to revalidate its interest in buying the operator. 

The BPE has stated that other options for the telco include setting a minimum price for NITEL and offering it to the remaining bidders, as well as liquidating the company, or restarting the whole bidding process again. The government began seeking a buyer for a minimum 75% of NITEL and 100% of M-Tel in July 2009 after previous majority shareholder Transcorp divested its stake earlier in the year.

Potraz to Disconnect 30% of SIMs Over Non-Registration

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has completed compiling a register of all mobile phone users in the country, state-run newspaper The Herald writes. 


The confidential database was completed following the regulator’s order last year for all cellular network users to register their personal details or be disconnected in the interests of curbing criminal activity. 


The registration deadline was 28 February 2011. The report says that by that date, state-owned cellco NetOne had registered 90% of its subscribers, whilst rival Telecel Zimbabwe had registered 80%, but market leader Econet Wireless only 60%.


With Econet controlling over 60% of the wireless market, the reported figures give a combined average of around 70% registration, indicating that around 30% of the country’s approximately nine million activated mobile SIM cards will now be disconnected, leaving a market of an estimated 6.3 million subscribers, or roughly 54% of the population.

Rwanda Begins winding Up Libyan-Owned RwandaTel

The Rwandan government has reportedly begun insolvency proceedings in the country’s commercial courts against telecoms operator Rwandatel, which is 80% owned by Libyan government investment vehicle LAP Green Networks. 


According to a report by local daily The New Times, which cites Registrar General Louise Kanyonga, the decision to liquidate Rwandatel – in which the state holds the remaining 20% stake – comes after audited reports found that the company is in financial difficulties.


‘We were in receipt of their audited financial statements for the financial year 2009/10 in which the auditing firm concluded that the company was technically insolvent,’ Kanyonga said, adding: ‘Based on the powers given to the Registrar General by the Insolvency law to institute insolvency proceedings, an application was made to the commercial court in Nyarugenge [on Monday 11 April].’ 


Earlier this month telecoms regulator Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) revoked Rwandatel’s mobile concession due to its failure to meet licence obligations, though the operator’s fixed telephony and ISP permits remain operational. In a separate development, the government last month froze all Libyan-owned assets in Rwanda to enforce United Nations (UN) sanctions following unrest in the North African nation.

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.

Tunisia Takes Over Doubtful Orange Stake

The interim government of Tunisia has confiscated the 51% stake in Orange Tunisia held by members of overthrown president Ben Ali's family via the Investec Group. 

After first freezing the Orange assets of Ben Ali's son-in-law, Marwan Moubrouk, along with those of his ex-wife and upward of 100 assorted friends and family, the new government has decided to confiscate the shares and set up an inquiry to try and work out what should be done with them. The commission has six months to reach a conclusion.

It is rumoured that France Telecom may be encouraged to purchase the outstanding shares, although this would necessitate a change in the current foreign direct investment (FDI) laws. 

Orange Tunisia launched its wireless network in May last year and by the end of December had garnered 1.17 million subscribers, to give it a 9% share of the market.

Uganda's Opposition Calls for MTN Boycott

Uganda's main opposition party has started a campaign calling upon its supporters to boycott the services of the country's largest mobile telecommunications company, MTN Uganda Ltd. blaming it for disrupting the opposition poll tally center during the February 18 presidential polls.

The opposition blames MTN Uganda, a unit of Johannesburg-listed MTN Group Ltd. of intentionally jamming the telephone lines that the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) had bought for its polling agents to transmit results to its tally center on February 18, according to Wafula Oguttu, the FDC spokesman.

"They sabotaged our tally center and we could not tally our own results," he said."MTN is involving itself in Ugandan politics."

According to Oguttu, the FDC has started a nationwide campaign, calling its supporters to discard MTN sim cards. The opposition also accuses the company of giving campaign funds and free airtime to the ruling National Resistance Movement party.

An MTN spokeswoman denied the opposition allegations and said the company is considering legal action after party leaders publicly destroyed and burned MTN sim cards at a press conference on Friday last week.

"We have never received a formal complaint about the alleged jamming of the lines from the FDC," she said.

MTN has at least 6.5 million cell phone subscribers in Uganda

Veteran opposition leader, Kizza Besigye had set up a parallel tally center to tally his own votes saying he had no faith in the ruling party-appointed electoral body, however, the center was sabotaged, before being invaded by security forces on February 18.

The FDC claimed to have only tallied results from around 30% of the polling stations, showing Besigye in the lead with at least 47% of the vote, compared with President Yoweri Museveni's 46% by the time the center was sabotaged.

The Electoral Commission later announced Museveni as the winner with 68% of the vote, but the polls were marred by a number of irregularities, according to observers.

Uganda Takes Over Libyan-Owned UTL

The Ugandan government has taken over management of troubled Libyan-owned telecommunications company, Uganda Telecom Ltd. (UTL), Uganda's minister of information and communications technology said Tuesday.

As a regulator and a minority shareholder in Uganda Telcom, the government has decided to take over management of the company to safeguard its interests and the interests of its customers, Aggrey Awori said in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

"We cannot sit and watch as things get out of hand," he said.

The Libyan Arab Portfolio, or LAP Green Network, holds a controlling stake in Uganda Telecom.

According to Awori, the move is part of government's decision to implement the United Nations-initiated sanctions against Libya. Last week, the Ugandan central bank took over Libya-owned Tropical African Bank.

Uganda Telecom has been struggling to meet payment obligations to other Ugandan telecom companies arising from interconnection fees. A company spokesman couldn't return calls seeking comment immediately.

Earlier this month, MTN Uganda--a unit of Johannesburg-listed MTN Group Ltd. threatened to block calls to Uganda Telecom over a 20 billion Ugandan shillings ($8.3 million) unpaid interconnection fees that have accumulated over a three-year period.

Airtel Uganda Ltd. also claims that Uganda Telecom owes it UGX8 billion in interconnection fees and had also threatened to terminate calls to the network. Airtel Uganda Ltd. is a unit of India-based Bharti Airtel Ltd.

However, government has prevailed upon the two companies from blocking calls to Uganda Telecom, to avoid inconveniencing the public. People familiar with the situation say that the two companies were now planning to attach some of the properties belonging to Uganda Telecom.

Attachment is a legal process by which a court of law, at the request of a creditor, designates specific property owned by the debtor to be transferred to the creditor, or sold for the benefit of the creditor.

Uganda's foreign affairs minister announced last week that government would freeze Libyan assets worth $375 million; other Libyan-owned companies that have been affected by the sanctions include Tamoil East Africa, National & Housing Construction Company, Laico Lake Victoria Hotel and Libya Oil. 

-Dow Jones Newswires