Orascom’s Telecel acquires Namibia’s Cell One
A subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, Telecel Globe has acquired Namibian 2G/3G cellco Powercom (trading as Cell One) for around US$59 million. According to a recent data, Cell One launched a GSM-900/1800 network in March 2007 before expanding coverage to all 13 regions of the country, and it switched on a W-CDMA-based 3G network in June 2008, with coverage limited to parts of the capital, Windhoek. The company, which competes with larger rival MTC, was formerly owned by Telecom Management Partner Holdings (itself owned by Norway’s Telenor, 39%), NamPower (37%), Zeven Investment Corporation (formerly Namibia Mineworkers’ Investment Holdings, 12%), domestic finance house Old Mutual (10%) and Powercom Educational Development Trust (2%).
Telecel Globe’s CEO Kai Uebach said that ‘Cell One is well positioned in the Namibian market to become the key provider of competitive mobile voice and data services. Telecel Globe expects the investment in Cell One to have a positive effect on the brand, the customers and Namibia as a whole. This investment will further strengthen the traditionally good relationship and mutual trust between Namibia and Egypt. This acquisition will further enable Cell One to grow its customer base and deliver both essential services and groundbreaking communication solutions for the Namibian market.’ Presently, Cell One has a subscriber base of 198,000.
