Qtel Abandons Africa Plans, Eyes More Middle East Investments

The CEO of Qatar Telecom (Qtel), Nasser Marafih, says the company is looking into increasing its investments in the Iraqi and Algerian telecoms markets because of the potential for expansion in the two countries, according to a report in The Peninsula.

Qtel controls 36.2% of mobile operator Wataniya Telecom Algeria (Nedjma), via a 71% stake held by Kuwaiti-based Wataniya Telecom (NMTC), a 51%-owned subsidiary of Qtel. The Qatari mobile, fixed line and broadband group also holds 30% of the consortium-controlled cellco Asiacell in Iraq. In Algeria, the second national operator (SNO) fixed line licence is currently vacant; in January 2010 previous SNO Lacom’s licence was officially revoked, potentially paving the way for the concession to be reauctioned later in the year.

Dr Marafih was quoted as saying that the global financial crisis had some positive impact on Qtel’s businesses in the sense that the lowering of licence fees worldwide to a ‘more realistic’ level meant it was cheaper to expand into new markets. The lower prices, the CEO continued, will create further opportunities for Qtel’s acquisitions in the future.

‘We now have control of 14 communication companies in 17 countries,’ he said, but added, however, that Qtel has abandoned any plans for expanding into African markets because of the high levels of competition. It is thought likely he was just referring to sub-Saharan countries; Qtel recently indicated interest in entering Morocco’s mobile sector.

Kasapa Wins Appeal In Kludjeson Case

Ghanaian CDMA operator Kasapa Telecom yesterday issued a press release noting that the Court of Appeal has reversed, by a unanimous decision, the 25 April 2007 ruling of the Accra Fast Track High Court, in the case of Kludjeson International Limited versus Robert N. Palitz (Kasapa’s managing director), Lung Hien Ching (Kasapa’s former CFO), Trustee Services Limited (Kasapa’s former company secretary) and the Attorney General.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld each of the eleven grounds of appeal, and, significantly, adjudged that Mr Palitz, Mr Lung, and Trustee Services had all been properly appointed to their respective positions, and that all actions taken, including the change of company name from ‘Celltel’ to ‘Kasapa’ and the acceptance of a shareholder loan, were properly done and completely valid. The court awarded costs to each of the first three defendants.

Back in May 2007 Kasapa Telecom strenuously refuted the Accra Fast Track High Court ruling that the appointment of its managing director and chief financial officer, was done inappropriately and that the name of the company should be changed back to its original name, Celltel.

At the time it published a press release titled ‘The Facts of the Matter’, in which it said it was vital that it responded to the ‘deliberate and malicious spread of misinformation about the judgement of the High Court on 25 April 2007 in the case of Kludjeson International Limited (KIL) vs Robert Palitz and 3 others’.

Nigeria To Open NITEL Bids On 16 February

Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has announced that it will open financial bids for the privatisation of incumbent fixed line operator Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) and its mobile arm M-Tel on 16 February 2010, local newspaper This Day reports.

According to the BPE, only six of the 14 pre-qualified consortia met the 5 February deadline for the submission of technical and financial proposals, and will therefore be able to submit bids for the minimum 75% stake. The successful candidates are: Brymedia; AF21/Spectrum consortium; MTN Nigeria; Globacom Nigeria; Omen International; and New Generation Telecommunications (formerly known as Telefonica Consortium).

The federal government began seeking a buyer for a minimum 75% of NITEL and 100% of its mobile unit in July 2009 after previous majority shareholder Transcorp divested its stake earlier in the year. The original deadline for the submission of technical and financial bids was 2 October 2009, but this was pushed back to 26 October due to the complexity of the process, and then again to 5 February 2010 to allow for additional time for prospective investors to conclude due diligence.

Prospective investors are invited to acquire either at least 75% equity in the entire NITEL conglomerate or a stake in one or several of its components, including M-Tel, submarine fibre-optic cable division SAT-3, the company’s domestic fixed line infrastructure, its national fibre-optic transmission backbone, and its CDMA network.

NetOne Wants Fresh Loan Terms From Treasury

State-run Zimbabwean cellco NetOne has approached the treasury to renegotiate terms for a USD28 million loan obtained from international financiers at its inception more than a decade ago, reports AllAfrica.com, quoting The Zimbabwe Independent. Reward Kangai, NetOne’s managing director, told the parliamentary portfolio committee on media, information and communication technology that the firm had since 2002 failed to service the debt owed to three lenders, among them the UK-based Standard Chartered Bank.

However, Kangai added that NetOne could level the playing field with its privately-run competitors, Econet Wireless and Telecel Zimbabwe, if the government approved the setting up of an independent procurement committee to replace the current state body which, the MD claimed, often took close to six months to procure supplies for the GSM operator.

Kangai said the company had failed to replace its obsolete billing system following a decision by the existing procurement board to cancel bids by prospective suppliers, and as a result subscribers on monthly contracts were shifting to the pre-paid platform, EasyCall.

Meanwhile, the government has received USD53 million in financing from China for expanding NetOne’s network and customer base. The company had been targeting ‘five million subscribers by March this year’; it was reported this month to have less than 500,000 subscribers.

In a separate development, the incoming managing director of Telecel Zimbabwe, Aimable Mpore, revealed to the same parliamentary committee that the Orascom Telecom subsidiary would launch 3G mobile services by June this year after it was granted necessary wireless frequencies by the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) last week.

Gateway To Introduce Wireless Broadband

Gateway Communications Nigeria has announced the signing of a contract with Cambridge Broadband Networks (CBN) for the creation of a point-to-multipoint wireless broadband network in Nigeria. Gateway will deploy CBN’s VectaStar II platform to provision 130 hubs and 5,000 terminal stations to deliver last mile broadband connections across the country. Gateway, which has acquired 10.5GHz spectrum licences for point-to-multipoint, is currently building a pan-African MPLS network covering every major African city.

The company plans to roll out wireless broadband services across ten Nigerian states in 2010, with Port Harcourt and Abuja scheduled to go live in March. It is anticipated that services will be launched in a further 26 states in 2011. ‘Being able to connect to our enterprise customers in their own premises and control the last mile ensures that all Nigerian business will now be able to benefit from carrier grade solutions, no matter what their size,’ noted Guy Clarke, MD at Gateway Nigeria, adding, ‘Gateway has an aggressive rollout plan for last mile access for its wireless broadband networks in 2010 and 2011. We needed an efficient, reliable and high capacity solution that could be deployed quickly, and CBN’s point-to-multipoint solution met those requirements.’

The latest deal follows Gateway’s successful rollout of its Airlink and MetroLink wireless broadband services using 10.5GHz solutions. Both are currently available in Lagos and will, over the next few months, be delivered to all major metropolitan areas across Nigeria.

Ghana Fixes 1 July as Deadline for SIM Registration

Mr. Bernard Forson Jnr, the Director General of the National Communication Authority (NCA) in Ghana, has given subscribers of the country’s various mobile networks have up to 1 July 2011 to register their SIM cards or risk having their line blocked or disconnected.

Mr. Emmanuel Owusu Adansi, NCAs Director of Special Projects said ‘all customers should endeavour to register their chips to get their lines activated before 1 July’, adding that registration would improve security for users and also help in the fight against mobile phone-related crime.

Vodacom Q3 Revenues Up 6%

South African Vodacom Group has reported group revenues of ZAR15.43 billion (USD2.03 billion) for the three months ended 31 December 2009, up 6% from ZAR14.56 billion in the same period a year earlier. The company attributed revenue growth to the January 2009 acquisition of Gateway Communications and a 33.1% year-on-year growth in data revenues. Group data revenue was ZAR1.19 billion for the final three months of 2009, with the company’s domestic operation accounting for ZAR1.16 billion of the total.

Pieter Uys, CEO of Vodacom, said: ‘This has been a positive quarter for Vodacom, featuring solid overall revenue growth and continued progress in building our data business. Despite a challenging economic environment, our South African business posted a 7.5% increase in revenue. The actions we have taken in our international businesses have shown positive results in the form of improved market positioning. Cost management programmes are also gaining momentum and should provide the basis for improved margin management in the year ahead. Careful allocation of capital to investment projects has resulted in continued strong growth in cash flows.’

The group ended 2009 with a consolidated mobile customer base of 40.5 million, a 9.5% year-on-year growth. Vodacom South Africa accounted for 67% of the total with 27.1 million subscribers, up from 26.45 million a year earlier. Three of the company’s international operations also reported year-on-year customer growth. The firm’s Tanzania, Mozambique and Lesotho-based subsidiaries saw their customer bases grow by 28.4%, 61.1% and 30.9% respectively. Growth in other operations helped offset a 12.9% decline in Vodacom’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) subscriber base, which stood at 3.52 million following a change in disconnection policy from 215 to 90 inactive days.

Ghana Bans Erection Of Mast Over Environment Concerns

A report in Ghana Business News says the country’s Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) has imposed an immediate ban on the mounting of telecoms masts in Ghana ‘until further notice’ much to the chagrin of domestic operators.
Local reports cited a letter from MEST to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), dated 12 January 2010, confirming the ban. In the report EPA says roughly 50% of all communications masts in the country were erected by service providers who did not obtain the required permit.

However, local cellcos are concerned the edict will adversely affect rural coverage in Ghana. The CEO of Kasapa Telecom, Mr. Bob Palitz, has reportedly accused the Ministry of taking a unilateral decision when there is a committee working to resolve the issue of co-location.

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.

Rotana To Supply Content To Meditel

Moroccan mobile operator Medi Telecom (Meditel) has signed a deal with Saudi Arabian broadcaster Rotana Media as part of a drive to attract more young subscribers with online entertainment content, Reuters reports.

Rotana, part of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding company, controls 85% of the music market among the Arab world's more than 300 million population and has 60% of its film distribution and production market, according to the article.

The partnership deal with Meditel includes all Rotana content, Rotana Digital Media Chairman Youssef Mugharbil told journalists, whilst the firm plans to strike similar deals with firms in the region and beyond if the venture proves successful.

Vodacom Tz Acquires NSN Billing System

Nokia Siemens networks (NSN) has announced a contract to supply Vodacom Tanzania with a unified charging and billing system. The upgrade will allow the cellco’s pre-paid subscribers to benefit from the same promotional campaigns and value added services (VAS) as their post-paid counterparts, and vice versa, it said in a statement.

NSN will deploy its solution – based on the ‘charge@once unified’ software – that allows what it calls ‘predefined marketing scenario’s to be activated on demand.

Vodacom Tanzania (Vodacom) is the country’s leading cellular network operator by subscribers, offering GSM communication services to about seven million customers across the country. It has deployed a range of state of the art technologies for voice, data, leased lines, PABX connectivity, international connectivity, WiMAX solutions, remote communication solutions over satellite and banking solutions.

The operator says its GSM-900/1800 network currently covers 76.47% of the population; GPRS countrywide coverage is 76.47% of the population; EDGE is available in selected towns and cities covering 62% of the population; UMTS with HSDPA in the capital Dar es Salaam covers 14.1% of the population; and WiMAX (802.16d) is provided in five major cities covering 70% of business premises.

'French Firm' To Run Ethiopian telecom

Local news sources report that an unnamed French company is set to take over management of Ethiopian state-owned incumbent Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) having beaten off bids from South African and Indian competition. Having attracted the interest of a number of foreign companies on announcing that it was seeking a partner on a revenue-sharing basis, Capital Ethiopia claims that only three companies made it through to the final stage of the selection process; South Africa’s MTN, state-owned Indian telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and the unnamed French company.

While the selection process has been concluded ETC CEO Amare Amsalu is quoted as saying: ‘I am out of the [Addis Ababa] and it is difficult to give releases without referring to documents.’ Additionally, it is understood that, while the winning bidders has been picked, further negotiations are still required, providing further reason for the lack of information being released regarding the deal.

What is known is that the firm selected to take over management of the telco will be responsible for introducing new schemes to reform how ETC conducts its core operations, from service provision to infrastructure maintenance. According to previous comments by Diriba Kuma, Transport and Communications Minister, the winning international firm will also be expected to boost ETC’s revenues.

At present ETC is undertaking a large-scale expansion scheme of all its networks and services, with improvements expected to include the rollout of a fibre-optic network. Previously Chinese vendor ZTE had been selected by ETC to assist with the construction of a new national infrastructure in three phases; currently ZTE is working on the third phase which covers expansion to rural and remote regions, and was started in October 2008, and is due for completion in the near future.

Commenting on the introduction of the ETC’s new management partner Minister Diriba noted: ‘The transformation process the new company is to lead will kick off as soon as the ongoing expansion with ZTE is completed.’

KPLC Signs Pacts With Safaricom, Janii and Wananchi

Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has announced that it has reached agreements with three local telcos to lease fibre-optic cable capacity across its national network, Bloomberg reports.

The country’s monopoly power firm will sign contracts with Safaricom, Jamii Telecom and Wananchi Group in the next few days to seal the deal which will allow the operators to access the 1,500km transport network, which connects Mombasa to Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Kiganjo and Nanyuki. As reported by CommsUpdate on 30 November 2009, Kenya has a burgeoning fibre market, with Telkom, KDN, Jamii Telecom, Wananchi, Access Kenya and the government all owning their own optical infrastructure.

Main One Targets Nigeria And Ghana for Its Under Sea Cable

Telecoms infrastructure firm Main One Cable Company has revealed it has begun the final stage of deploying its high capacity fibre-optic cable from Seixal in Portugal through the West African coast to Ghana and Nigeria.

It is expected that the cable, which is scheduled to go live in June 2010, will bring much-needed international capacity into a region where rapid growth in telecoms has been blighted by limited global connectivity. ‘Now that the 7,000km trunk of the cable is being installed, we are pleased that our efforts over the last 18 months are coming to fruition,’ noted Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One.

In November 2009 Main One successfully completed the installation of the shore ends of the cable in the Nigerian capital Lagos, Accra in Ghana and Seixal. The company is also building two landing stations in Accra and Lagos, scheduled for completion next month. Equipment installation and end-to-end testing of the cable system will then follow, prior to service launch in June.

Main One says it will provide open access to 1.92Tbps of capacity to the West African region at less than 50% of current wholesale capacity prices. The company adds that it will help to minimise the difficulties of switching traffic between African countries and eliminate the inconveniences and added costs of first routing traffic to Europe.

Main One Cable Company is wholly-owned by Nigerian companies African Finance Corporation, FBN Capital, Skye Bank project sponsor Main Street Technologies, as well as South Africa-based Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund.

Tanzania Makes It Mandotary For Firms To List On Bourse

Tanzania’s parliament has passed a new telecommunications bill that will make it mandatory for all mobile network operators to list on the country’s Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).

Local newspaper The Citizen says the move has provoked immediate and vocal condemnation among the firms affected who say it is a retrograde step for the industry. ‘It takes the country back to the era of nationalisation when individuals were forced to sell their companies or shares to the government,’ Vodacom Tanzania’s head of legal and regulatory affairs, Mr Godwin Ngwilimi.

However, many MPs considered the bill in light of what they see as cellcos’ unfair treatment of end users and their withholding of billions to the state by way of taxes.

The new Electronic and Postal Communication Bill 2009 was presented by the Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, Prof Peter Msola, who said it would help set up a legal framework for providing comprehensive regulations for electronic communication service providers.

Once the bill enters into law, domestic telcos will be forced to offer shares to the public and will also be required to list with the DSE within three years of it entering the statute.

Vodacom Cuts Its Broadband Charges

Ermano Quartero, managing executive of Vodacom Business, has announced his firm has implemented a range of broadband price cuts which will see business clients pay, on average, 50% less for broadband usage, BusinessDay reports.

Quartero said that the cut had been made possible by ‘increasing competition between undersea cable providers, which in turn creates a sustainable competitive international bandwidth market in South Africa.’  SEACOM, a 15,000km, 1.28Tbps cable system connecting South Africa with Europe and Asia, launched operations, pledging to reduce bandwidth charges across Africa.

The cable partially liberated the South African market, which had previously relied on a single submarine cable, the Telkom-controlled SAT-3, to provide the bulk of international traffic. On 20 November 2009 SEACOM expressed its disappointment in a lack of take-up in South Africa, stating that incumbent operators would need to take the lead and drop prices to see broadband expansion in the country.

However, Quartero claims that today’s cuts could spur on a spate of price reductions nationwide, saying: ‘This cut is absolutely permanent: the price can never come up, because the pressures are just too extreme.’