Vodafone Group paid €573 million (US$900 million) for a 70% stake in Ghana Telecom, the African country’s third largest mobile phone operator, a Reuters report said.
The deal, signed in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, still requires approval of the country’s parliament, the report added.
Vodafone spokesman Simon Gordon was also quoted saying it was expected to be given by the end of the third quarter of 2008.
Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone group by revenue, said the government of Ghana would retain a 30% stake in Ghana Telecom, which has an enterprise value of around €637 million (US$1.3 billion).
“Ghana is one of the most attractive markets in Africa with mobile subscribers growing at more than 55% (per annum) and mobile penetration around 35%,” Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said in a statement.
A government official said the deal would benefit consumers.
Vodafone said mobile penetration was low at 35 % in Ghana, which has a population of 24 million with more than 50% under the age of 25. About 2.7 million subscribers were added in 2007.
The deal gives Vodafone majority control of the company, which has a 17% share of the market and had around 1.4 million customers at the end of March. It is also Ghana’s leading fixed-line operator.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Vodafone on Thursday secured a 70 per cent stake in Ghana Telecom for $900m, in the latest sign of the UK mobile operator’s appetite for Africa’s fast-growing telecoms markets.
Arun Sarin, Vodafone’s outgoing chief executive, said in a statement: ”Ghana is one of the most attractive markets in Africa with mobile subscribers growing at more than 55 per cent a year and mobile penetration around 35 per cent. Our extensive operating experience together with our portfolio of products and services position us well to deliver a superior mobile experience to Ghanaian customers and significantly improve financial performance.”
Ghana Telecom operates the country’s third largest mobile carrier, with 1.4m customers and a one-third market share, and a fixed line and broadband service. It reported revenue growth of 9.3 per cent in the 12 months ended 31 December 2007 to $290m and earnings of $42m.
Mr Sarin has identified Africa as one of its key targets for growth, having expanded its position in India last year. Vodafone already owns a majority stake in Vodafone Egypt and 40 per cent of Safaricom in Kenya, which listed on the Kenyan market last month.
The UK group is also looking to increase its 50 per cent stake in Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile operator, where Telkom is currently its joint venture partner.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Hutchison Telecom International (HTIL) has sold Kasapa Telecom to EGH International for a cash price of HKD584 million (USD75 million), reports Ghana daily The Statesman. A buyout agreement was originally signed in January between the two parties. The deal is now waiting to final regulatory approval.Kasapa is Ghana’s smallest cellco, claiming a 3.8% share of the subscriber market at the end of 2007. The sale comes as part of a wider move by HTIL to divest certain CDMA-based businesses and concentrate fully on its subsidiaries operating GSM networks.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
- January 25th, 2008
- 11:54 am
Mobile operator MTN is delivering mobile soccer content to all its users across Africa, which is developed exclusively for the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Ghana. The information includes SMS notifications, official AFCON sanctioned video and pictures of all the action. MTN has made available SMS services to subscribers, with regular updates for the duration of the tournament. Depending on how much information a fan wants, the content of the packages ranges from highlights of the games to a full range of stats and scores for all the matches of the MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 tournament. Downloads of country flags of the participating teams, team jerseys, national anthems and soccer ringtones will also be available. Subscribers can also win all paid trip for two to Ghana to see one of the Africa Cup of Nations matches, if they subscribe to one of the packages.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
- October 23rd, 2007
- 12:55 pm
Mobile operator Celtel International, part of the Zain group, has signed an agreement to acquire 75 percent of Western Telesystems from the government of Ghana for USD 120 million. The government of Ghana remains a shareholder in Westel with a 25 percent holding through the Ghana National Petroleum company. The transaction is subject to standard approvals and authorisations and is expected to conclude quickly. With the addition of Ghana, Celtel’s presence in Africa will expand to fifteen countries, making the Zain Group’s total footprint 22 countries. Celtel also looks forward to promoting Ghana as a gateway to West Africa through its One Network, which offers free roaming across the region.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
- October 15th, 2007
- 3:19 pm
Southeast Asian telecoms operator Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) is reported to be planning a bid for a 51% stake in Ghana’s state-owned national PTO, Ghana Telecom (GT), according to Reuters citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation. GT has confirmed on its website that investors are conducting due diligence on the company with a view to participating in the auction for the majority stake. A move into the African market is consistent with SingTel’s strategy of expanding into markets beyond its traditional Asia-Pacific region where it has spent upwards of SGD18 billion (USD12.2 billion) in recent years acquiring telecoms assets in high growth markets such as Thailand, the Philippines and Australia. Merrill Lynch is rumoured to be acting as SingTel’s advisor in the matter, although both declined to comment. Portugal Telecom is also rumoured to have been short-listed to participate in the auction, together with three other unnamed operators.
In a related story, Ghana’s opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the government to halt the proposed sale of 51% of GT until a careful review is held to assess the true economic value of the company. In a press conference a spokesman for the NDC said: ‘To proceed on the advertised terms is not in our national economic interest.’
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
- September 10th, 2007
- 12:32 pm
MTN South Africa will spend up to R1.3 billion to build fixed-line infrastructure throughout the country after successfully completing a pilot project between Sandton and Rosebank in Johannesburg.
MTN is entering the fixed-line space to cut operational and customer costs; offer converged fixed-line and cellular services to clients; and meet the corporate demand for internet bandwidth that Telkom is unable to meet.
The massive roll-out plans come four days after MTN Group said it was in discussions to acquire certain assets of Telkom, which is reviewing its 50 percent stake in MTN’s rival Vodacom.
MTN Group chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko said last month that the company would keep an open mind on opportunities to increase its customer base in the corporate market.
MTN has been running a pilot fibreoptic cable between Rosebank and Sandton over the past two months to link stockbroking firms and the JSE. It spent R10 million on the project.
The new 5 000km fibreoptic cable network will stretch throughout major cities and will be completed by 2009.
MTN SA managing director Tim Lowry said on Friday that the demand for data services was “placing huge requirements on our transmission network; this need cannot be met by current suppliers”.
He said MTN would consider partnerships with Vodacom or Neotel, the second fixed-line operator, to build the cable.
The partnership would be on an equal access basis.
The final costs of the cable would be determined after the tender process to identify potential suppliers of equipment was finalised in November.
Vodacom plans a R7 billion investment in building fixed-line cables over the next five years.
Since Vodacom’s plans are yet to take off, MTN is set to be the first cellular operator to become an alternative fixed-line internet data provider.
“It will be a bit of a turf war” as MTN, Vodacom and Neotel started offering the services, said Mike Brierley, the managing director of network solutions at MTN SA. He added that prices would plunge as a result.
MTN will consider whether to sell spare capacity to other players. Under its current licence, it is allowed to provide its own telecoms network for its needs and lease out excess capacity.
MTN Group has experience in the fixed-line business: it has built networks in Ghana and Nigeria and runs a fixed-line business in Uganda.
Asked why MTN was building its own network while it was in talks to acquire assets from Telkom, Lowry said that until “something changes, it’s business as usual … We will decide what to do if the situation changes.”
He admitted that acquiring an existing asset was the quickest way to enter the fixed-line market.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Ghana’s Electronic Transaction Bill, new legislation designed to regulate electronic communications and transactions in accordance with National Information and Communication Technology Policy, is expected to be presented to parliament for its deliberation later this week. According to reports in the local newspaper The Statesman, the outgoing Minister of Communications, Mike Oquaye, says that although some finishing touches are being put on the bill, it is complete and ready for the cabinet’s assessment and approval.
The Electronic Transaction Bill is supposed to remove and prevent barriers to electronic communications and transactions in the country, as well as promote the use of e-commerce. Once adopted, it will ‘ensure efficient use and management of the country’s domain space. It will further protect the interest and image of the country from being compromised through the use of electronic communications’, the paper says. The telecommunication bill, also currently under discussion, is designed to provide regulations for control of electronic communications and broadcasting. The minister says that under the new law, the regulator, the National Communication Authority (NCA), will have ‘clear cut guidelines and regulations to strengthen its capacity to operate efficiently, effectively and sustainably without fear or favour.’
It is understood that the NCA will be given new powers to ensure that the country’s telecoms operators deliver a high quality of service, via measures such as the threat of the (temporary) removal of their licence. The Electronic Transaction Bill is one of three bills currently on the table; the others are the New Telecom Bill and the National Communication Authority Bill.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Following a wave of complaints from users, Ghana’s telecoms regulator the National Communications Authority (NCA) says it is stepping up efforts to monitor and evaluate the performance of the country’s telecom service providers in a bid to improve performance. According to reports in the newspaper, The Accra Mail, the Minister of Communications Prof Mike Ocquaye has said that ultimatums have been sent to all telcos to ‘remedy all quality of service impediments by the close of July this year, failure of which the NCA will apply in full all the requisite sanctions.’
The minister went on to say that the government was committed to providing universal access under the ambit of the National Telecom Policy, and that it was working with the Chinese to secure USD150 million towards a project to improve access and reduce the so-called ‘rural-urban digital divide’.
In a related story, the government minister said the administration was looking to sell off two-thirds of its shares in national fixed line and mobile operator Ghana Telecom (GT) to a strategic investor, which it hopes can inject much needed capital to improve telecoms access. Oquaye revealed that a committee has completed the plan for the divestiture of the state’s 100% shareholding in GT.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
South Africa-based pan-African telecoms company MTN Group has announced it is rebranding its Ghanaian unit Spacefon Areeba under the MTN umbrella, soon. Until May 2006 the cellco (formerly Scancom) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Lebanon-based Investcom Holdings. In that month, MTN Group announced plans to enter the Ghanaian market through a merger with the parent company. MTN Group acquired Investcom in a deal worth USD5.526 billion.
A spokeswoman for the operator said that following the rebranding, Scancom Ghana would still remain the registered owner of the brand, except that Scancom is now owned by the MTN group.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Vodafone wants controlling stake in Ghana Telecom (Ghana)
