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CRC cancels fourth wireless licence tender in Bulgaria (Bulgaria)

August 6th, 2008
1:57 pm

Communications Regulations Commission (CRC), Bulgarian telecoms regulator, cancelled tender for the fourth wireless licence of the country, as there was only one incomplete bid.
A total of twelve companies, bought documents for participation, but on the closing date of submission only one Telco Liechtenstein submitted a bid. The documentation recieved was incomplete, and when additional paperwork wasn’t recieved within seven days, the whole process was cancelled.

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Bulgaria set to auction another wireless license (Bulgaria)

June 11th, 2008
2:43 pm

Bulgaria will auction a mobile phone license on July 29 that will allow the launch of a fourth wireless operator in the European Union newcomer, a Reuters report said.

Some 12 companies, including Turkish mobile operator Turkcell, have expressed initial interest in acquiring the 20-year GSM license, the report said.

The tender will have a starting price of 38 million leva (€19.4 million) according to the regulator.

Interested suitors should express their interest in taking part in the auction by July 11.

The three current mobile phone operators in the Balkan country of 7.7 million people have so far not expressed interest in the tender, although initially Telekom Austria’s Mobiltel and Cosmote’s Globul considered it.

Bulgaria’s third GSM operator, Vivatel, part of telecoms BTC and owned by US insurance giant AIG, has not expressed interest.

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Mobile, GSM, Bulgaria, Mobiltel, Vivatel
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Prepaid Mobile Broadband from M-Tel Bulgaria

April 30th, 2008
1:20 pm

M-Tel* has launched ‘M-Tel Free Surf’ a prepaid 3G tariff available to ‘Prima’ customers (prepaid). The tariffs which can be ordered via SMS – text to read 250 MB” or “25 MB - are as follows:

         Tariff                           Cost per           Included              Cost per           Validity
                                             month                                      extra Mbyte
   M-Tel Free Surf 25                9.90                  25 MB                  2.56               30 days
   M-Tel Free Surf 250             24.50                 250 MB                2.56               30 days

Prices are in BGN and include tax at 20 per cent, BGN 9.90 = Euro 5.08
Connections are billed in increments of 20 kbytes

Pay-as-you-go for prepaid subscribers accessing the Internet is BGN 2.56 per 1 Mbyte, tariffed in increments of 100 kbytes, however billed in increments of 20 kbytes. Postpaid subscribers benefit from a lower rate of BGN 0.61 after 10 use of 10 MB.

By launching ‘M-Tel Free Surf’, M-Tel is attempting to increase usage of its mobile Internet service to a larger customer base. This is because by allowing customers to purchase prepaid 3G, they have more flexibility and are not tied to a commitment. For reference, the following per Mbyte rates apply as per the inclusive amount.

        Tariff                            Per Mbyte                                  Factor
                                        outside bundle                 Outside versus inside bundle
   M-Tel Free Surf 25                 0.396                                      6.5
   M-Tel Free Surf 250                0.098                                      26.1

Prices are in BGN and include tax at 20 per cent.

Postpaid subscribers have the option to sign up to three bundles namely 250 kb, 1.5 GB and 5 GB.

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Mobile, Bulgaria, ARPU, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Advertising, VAS, M-tel
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Deutsche Telekom to buy 20% of OTE for €2.5bn (Germany)

March 18th, 2008
7:10 am

German incumbent looking for management control but not full buyout of Greek operator; eastern European ops key to deal.
Deutsche Telekom Monday announced it will acquire a stake of close to 20% in Greek incumbent OTE for around €2.5 billion and aims to gain management control of the telco.

The German operator said it has entered an agreement to acquire the OTE shares held by private equity firm Marfin Investment Group (MIG).

“The execution of this agreement is conditional upon Deutsche Telekom’s Supervisory Board,” said Deutsche Telekom, in a statement.

MIG has been steadily raising its stake in OTE for several months, and now owns 98.3 million shares, making it the largest shareholder behind the Greek government, which controls 28.03%.

Furthermore, Deutsche Telekom said it also plans to propose a shareholder deal with the Greek government to further increase its OTE stake, although it does not plan to acquire all the operator’s shares.

“Deutsche Telekom expects to initiate discussions with the Greek government with the aim to reach an agreement in the very near future,” said Deutsche Telekom.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis last week announced that Greece is considering altering legislation which caps private investment in strategically sensitive sectors, but insisted it would not remove the restrictions altogether.

The announcement came as local press reports revealed that OTE had begun negotiating with major European telecos including Deutsche Telekom.

“Withdrawing the legislation is out of the question, but we’ll see whether it needs to be improved,” said Karamanlis at a news conference in Brussels.

Analyst firm Ovum believes that Deutsche Telekom’s interest in OTE lies in its mobile operations in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, and Albania.

“DT is buying the top-line growth that these countries can bring to T-Mobile over the next few years, plus the added opportunity to leverage scale economies across its European mobile footprint,” said Mike Cansfield, telecoms strategy practice leader, Ovum, in a research note.

Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann has repeatedly called for consolidation in the European mobile sector as a means to counter ongoing price deflation.

Cansfield added that ongoing global financial uncertainty could be putting off private equity firms from making big acquisitions.

“MIG pulling out of OTE could well be an indicator that private equity is starting to pull back from the telecoms sector,” he said. Therefore, Europe’s bigger telcos are now likely to be the major drivers of industry consolidation, he said.

“The DT/OTE link seems to indicate the larger incumbents with free cash flows now look to be the most likely agents of change. Two years ago few would have thought this likely,” said Cansfield.

“Today’s market is becoming more complex, and the bigger the enterprise the more likely it is to control its destiny. Expect more consolidation, not less,” he added.

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Max Telecom starts mobile WiMAX roll-out with Cisco (Bulgaria)

February 13th, 2008
2:41 pm

Mobile operator Max Telecom has completed the first phase of its WiMAX roll-out in Bulgaria using the Cisco Mobile WiMAX technology. The broadband mobile communications service is initially available in ten cities and two ski resorts across the country. Max Telecom plans to expand coverage to 90 percent of Bulgaria’s population by the end of 2009. Max Telecom provides its subscribers with mobile internet access, voice services and virtual private network services over WiMAX. The company also launched mobile television over WiMAX. The service uses Cisco’s customer premises equipment, WiMAX base stations and the Cisco Element Management System platform. Cisco also provides the access and aggregation network, connecting the base stations to the core network of Max Telecom.

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Mobile, WiMAX, Bulgaria, Cisco, Max Telecom
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Telekom Austria Group unveils xDSL, mobile growth (Austria)

January 19th, 2008
6:45 am

Telekom Austria Group announces that the number of fixed net access lines fell to 2.4 million at end-2007, from 2.6 million at end-2006, as the fixed-to-mobile migration continued. The Fixed Network division added 28,600 net xDSL customers in Q4 2007, compared to 23,700 customers added in Q4 2006, to reach a total of 750,600 at end-2007, compared to 693,600 at end-2006. The group boosted its mobile customers by 44.6 percent to 14.8 million in 2007, boosted by the contribution of the recently-acquired MDC in Belarus and positive development across all countries. Excluding MDC, group mobile customers reached 11.7 million in 2007, up by 14.7 percent from 2006, with 510,700 net additions in Q4, compared to 454,000 net additions in Q4 2006. Mobilkom Austria added 105,600 net mobile customers in Q4, compared to 101,100 added in Q4 2006, to end with 3.96 million customers, up by 9.1 percent from end-2006. Mobilkom Austria boosted its market share to 40.3 percent at end-2007, from 38.7 percent at end-2006.

Mobiltel in Bulgaria added 284,900 net mobile subscribers in Q4 2007, versus 231,600 net additions in Q4 2006, to end with 5.1 million customers, up 19.5 percent from end-2006. Its market share fell from 52.5 percent in 2006 to 50.3 percent in 2007 in the face of stiff competition. MDC in Belarus had 3.06 million customers at end-2007, up 23 percent from end-2006, for a market share of 43.4 percent. Croatian mobile operator Vipnet ended 2007 with 2.18 million customers, up 14 percent from 2006, adding 102,600 net subscribers in Q4, compared to 106,700 net additions in Q4 2006. Vipnet’s market share was 43 percent at end-2007. Si.mobil in Slovenia had 497,200 mobile customers at end-2007, up 18.2 percent year-on-year, adding 17,400 net customers in Q4, compared to 15,000 net additions in Q4 2006. Its market share was 26.9 percent at end-2007.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Austria, Bulgaria, Mobiltel, Si.mobil, Slovenia, Belarus, Telekom Austria, Vipnet
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Mobistar CEO to become CEO of BTC on 1 January (Bulgaria)

October 30th, 2007
2:46 pm

Bulgarian telecommunications operator BTC will appoint Bernard Moscheni Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 1 January 2008. He succeeds Martin Staub, who will continue to serve on the Board of Directors of BTC as non-executive member. Bernard Moscheni is currently CEO of Belgian mobile operator Mobistar, a post he will leave at the end of the year.

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Intel Capital and MCI invest in Nexcom (Bulgaria)

September 13th, 2007
1:12 pm

Intel Capital and MCI Management have announced that they have become investors in Nexcom Bulgaria, the alternative Bulgarian telecoms operator which is currently constructing a nationwide WiMAX network. ‘Nexcom was the first operator in Bulgaria to deliver WiMAX-based voice and Internet services’ said Chris Haller, co-founder and Chairman of Nexcom. ‘Over the next twelve months Nexcom plans to continue rapid deployment of its national WiMAX network, providing bundled voice and internet services in 24 Bulgarian cities and resort towns’.

In 2005 Nexcom won a tender for a national WiMAX frequency and is in the process of building out the first Bulgarian WiMAX-based wireless Internet and voice network. Earlier this year it launched commercial WiMAX-based voice and Internet services in Sofia, the rapidly expanding resort town of Bansko, and in a number of resort towns along the coastline of the Black Sea. As a result of Nexcom’s positive brand equity and the insufficient development of the telecommunications infrastructure in many underserved areas in Bulgaria, the company has already signed contracts with numerous large corporate accounts interested in receiving Nexcom’s services. By the end of 2007, Nexcom’s WiMAX network will provide coverage to more than 60% of the Bulgarian population.

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Bulgarian telecoms market grows 10% in 2006 to EUR 1.55 bln (Bulgaria)

August 30th, 2007
2:41 pm

The Bulgarian telecoms market grew 10 percent in 2006 to a value of EUR 1.55 billion, according to the annual report of the national communications commission. Mobile communications accounted for 59.3 percent of the market or EUR 920.5 million in services revenues, reports Sofia News Agency. The total mobile subscriber base grew by 32 percent to 8.25 million, equal to 107 percent of the population. M-Tel, owned by Telekom Austria, remained the dominant mobile operator despite seeing its share drop to 51.7 percent of all users and 59.7 percent of revenues. Rivals Globul and Vivatel had revenue shares of 36 percent and 4 percent respectively. Fixed-line penetration was down at 70 percent of households and 31 percent of the population. Fixed revenues fell 8 percent to EUR 399 million. BTC had 97 percent of the fixed-line market. Telecom investment reached EUR 415 million last year, down 14 percent from 2005. However, the regulator estimates investments will increase this year to around EURR 470 million.

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Subscriber growth helps boost Cosmote profits by 24.6% (Greece,Romania,Bulgaria,Macedonia)

August 29th, 2007
3:08 pm

Greek mobile group Cosmote reported a 24.6% year-on-year rise in net income in the second quarter, to EUR101.6 million (USD138.6 million), helped by strong subscriber growth, the effects of its takeover of the Germanos retail chain in Q4 2006 and forex gains. Revenues for the three months ended June 2007 climbed 36.6% to EUR738.4 million, and EBITDA improved by 22% percent to EUR248.4 million. Cosmote operates in five countries: Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia (FYROM) and Romania, through its respective units Cosmote Greece, AMC, Globul, Cosmofon and Cosmote Romania respectively. Total net subscriber additions in Q2 2007 reached 870,000 to give it a total of 13.1 million customers at the end of June 2007, a 39.4% increase from a year ago and on track to exceed a target of 15 million in 2009. The retail network of Germanos was the driving force behind much of the growth, accounting for around 63% of total net subscriber additions (excluding Albania) in Q2 2007 compared to around 38% a year before. Romania had the highest number of new additions at over 350,000, whilst Cosmote Greece added over 250,000 customers. Cosmofon in FYROM added 18,000 new subscribers in the second quarter to end June with 515,785 users.

Cosmote reported 37.5% year-on-year consolidated revenue growth for the first half, and H1 profit growth of 12.5%. Overall, international revenues in H1 2007, accounted for approximately 31% of group revenues (excluding Germanos), within targets set by the firm in 2005 (30%-35%), despite domestic operations continuing strong revenue growth throughout the period and Romanian operations still being in an early development phase. Total group CAPEX reached approximately EUR219 million in H1 2007. Romania accounted for around EUR84 million of the investment as it continues investing heavily to expand its network capacity. Greece absorbed EUR65 million and Bulgaria a further 37 million. Group net debt stood at EUR2.5 billion at the end of June, following a dividend payment of EUR244 million at the end of the month.

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