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.

Tunisie IPO Plans Suspended

Reuters reports that Tunisia has suspended plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) for state-owned telecoms company Tunisie Telecom, citing the communications minister.

Secretary of State for Communication Technologies Sami Zaoui said a final decision would be taken in consultation with Tunisia's strategic partners within days over whether to go ahead with the IPO.

Tunisia's government holds a 65% stake in Tunisie Telecom, with the rest held jointly by Dubai's TECOM Investments and Dubai Investment Group. 

It had planned to list the company on both Tunis and Paris stock exchanges in what would have been the first offering by a Tunisian company on a European bourse. 

Tunisia has had two changes of government since former president Zine Al Abdine Ben Ali was driven out by popular revolt on 14 January this year. Many officials have been replaced, leaving plans for the IPO in limbo.

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.

Wataniya Q3 Profits Down 69%

Wataniya, Kuwait's second largest mobile phone operator by subscribers has reported a 69% drop in net profit for the three months ending 30 June 2010.

The company made a net profit of KWD19.6 million (USD68.32 million) during Q2 2010, down from KWD63.5 million one year earlier. Net profit in 1H10 was reported at KWD35.8 million, down from KWD78.8 million in the first half of 2009.

Wataniya, itself a unit of Qatar Telecom (Qtel, which will publish its Q2 results on Sunday), operates in markets including Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the Maldives.

Tunisian Market Prepares for Shake-up As France Telecom Enters

The Tunisian telecoms market is to gain additional competition with the entry of France Telecom in early 2010. However, Onda Analytics believes the dynamics of the Tunisian telecoms market could change further, with many parties interested in the 35% stake in Tunisie Télécom held by EIT, a holding company for telecoms investments made by Dubai Holdings. The increasingly competitive environment in Tunisia may prompt EIT to consider listening to offers from operators interested in joining the market. Meanwhile, the other 65% shareholding is owned by the Tunisian government, which this week announced a privatisation drive for 2010.

As a result of the pressure from both France Telecom and existing mobile operator Tunisiana, Tunisie Télécom must pursue measures to defend its current market position. Report lead author, Daniel Jones, says "many MENA operators have experience of defending against strong competition and are looking for attractive acquisition targets. As a result of the benefits this experience could bring to Tunisie Télécom, these parties' valuations may provoke EIT's interest."

Onda Analytic's latest report, assesses this potential investment opportunity, as well as forecasting fixed line, broadband and mobile markets.

The incumbent, Tunisie Télécom, is likely to suffer most from the entry of France Telecom, given that the new entrant will be present in fixed line, broadband and mobile markets. Tunisie Télécom's mobile market share is forecast to decline from 50% in 2009 to 34% by 2018. Its fixed line business is also set to be put under pressure from France Telecom, with Tunisie Télécom's fixed share to fall from a current monopoly position to 77% of fixed lines by 2018.

Tunisian mobile operators generated total mobile revenues of US$1.6 billion in 2009. As a result of relatively high mobile penetration and with tariffs set to fall with the entry of the third mobile operator, total mobile revenue is forecast to grow modestly over the coming years. Fixed line growth is expected to buck the trend of many markets with a forecast increase in lines of 30% to 2018, from 1.4 million in 2009, driven by the adoption of broadband services.

Tunisie Telecom Delivers BlackBerry into Tunisian Market

Tunisian mobile network operator, Tunisie Telecom has announced the commercial launch of the BlackBerry solution in the country - with the system being supplied by Alcatel-Lucent. Based on its distribution agreement with RIM, Alcatel-Lucent will leverage its local presence in the region to provide Tunisie Telecom the end-to-end implementation, launch, and on-going support for delivering the BlackBerry solution to the Tunisian market.

“As the historical operator in Tunisia, our commitment is to efficiently meet the market demand and provide our professional customer with best of class communications solutions”, said Montassar Ouaili, CEO, Tunisie Telecom. “We are pleased to offer the BlackBerry smartphones - an innovative and revolutionary solution already used by millions of subscribers worldwide.”

“This agreement strengthens Alcatel-Lucent’s leading position worldwide and in the region,” said Vincenzo Nesci, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities in the Middle East & Africa. “Tunisie Telecom will expand their business opportunity and enable their customers to benefit from the high flexibility offered by BlackBerry smartphones for staying connected any time and everywhere.”

Figures from the Mobile World tracker show that Tunisie Telecom ended last year with around 4.3 million customers - and an almost exactly 50:50 market share with rival, Orascom Telecom Tunisie