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Iraq’s MoC fines Zain, Asiacell & Korek

December 3rd, 2008
5:03 am

Iraq’s Ministry of Communications (MoC) reportedly to fine the country’s three main cellcos – Zain, Asiacell and Korek Telecom – for failing to meet the network rollout conditions specified under the terms of their operating licences. ‘Asiacell is bad and Zain is very bad,’ said Hayam al-Yasiri, an adviser to the MoC. ‘Korek is breaching the licence because of the coverage and the service. Korek up to this moment does not cover many cities, although according to the licence they should cover them,’ he added. It is believed that, Korek is lacking fund for expansion in the northern region of the country. Speculation is their in the market that Etisalat is in talks to obtain a stake in the company.
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Asiacell reaches a mark of 6million subscribers (Iraq)

November 13th, 2008
5:16 am

Asiacell, Iraq, has doubled its subscriber base in a time span of an year. Asiacell which had a subscriber base of 3.6 million in February’08, has signed up 6 million till date, reports company CEO Diar Ahmad. The operator expects a subscriber base of 6.3 million by 2008 end. Ahmad said that despite Zain Iraq’s dominant share of the market, i.e. 70%, Asiacell is in a strong position to add more subscribersers. “In terms of coverage, Asiacell is the only company that covers the entire Iraqi soil. Zain has no presence in the north of Iraq,” he said. Ahmad attributed Asiacell’s growth to a “heavy and aggressive marketing campaign”, “visible aggressiveness on rolling out the network” and interest in Asiacell’s loyalty program.

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Zain increases its ownership stake in Iraqi operator to 62% (Iraq)

November 3rd, 2008
7:06 am

Zain Group, operating in Middle East and Africa, announces an increase in its ownership stake in Zain Iraq from 30% to 62%. The increase took place via pre-agreed call option between Zain and the owners of Athir National (Bahrain), one of the 3 founders of Zain Iraq for a total consideration of $34.477m.
‘We have taken this step due to our enduring faith and trust in the future of Iraq and the enormous potential of its telecommunications industry. We are confident this increased shareholding will positively impact Zain Group’s future financial results in many facets, to the delight of our many stakeholders.’ says Dr Saad Al Barrak, CEO of Zain Group.
‘An essential part of Zain’s profitable expansion strategy in being a top-ten global mobile operator by 2011 is to have either majority ownership or management control. This deal in turning an affiliate company to a fully fledged subsidiary company seals both requirements and was achieved on the back of our recent $4.5bn capital increase,’ added Dr Al Barrak.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Iraq, Zain, Zain Iraq, Ownership Stake
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Zain posts a subscriber base of 56.3Mn in Q3′08

October 23rd, 2008
10:19 am

Zain, Middle East and African mobile operator posts its Q3′08 results. The net profits rose to $326.6 million, up by 7%. Zain’s revenues grew to $1.887 billion, climbing 25% and EBITDA rose to $763.6 million, up by 20%. Zain had a subscriber base of 56.3 million at September end, seeing a 54% rise since September 2007.
Profits seemed a bit sluggish due to its cost to launch in Saudi Arabia, where it claimed 1 million subscribers in 2 months. Zain Kuwait contributed considerably to the profits along with Bahrain. In Iraq, Sudan and Jordan it faces a challenging market.
Looking at Africa, Zain plans to launch in Ghana by year end, in Nigeria operations are undergoing heavy investments to support growth , while Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar are doing very well.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Madagascar, Sudan, Zain, Revenues, Profits, Subscriber base
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Etisalat names Korek Telecom for possible stake (UAE)

October 13th, 2008
5:30 am

Etisalat has reportedly named Kurdish operator Korek Telecom for possible stake. This came as a followup to the news that said, that Etisalat is in final talks for a possible stake worth up to USD1 billion in a Middle East telecoms operator, specifically Iraq.
Korek Telecom had won a mobile licence in Iraq last year in August.

To look at the previous related stories click to the following links:

http://wirelessfederation.com/news/etisalat-plans-to-enter-iraqs-mobile-market-uae/

http://wirelessfederation.com/news/etisalat-in-talks-for-possible-stake-in-middle-east-operator-uae/

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Iraq, Etisalat, UAE, Korek Telecom
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Nigeria becomes the No.1 mobile market in Middle East and Africa

October 10th, 2008
5:58 am

The Nigerian mobile market has reportedly become the largest mobile market of Middle East and Africa in Q1′08, overtaking the South African market. The subscriber base has crossed the 50 million mark lately, and ended August with 55million mobile subscribers, says Engr Ernest Ndukwe, Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), becoming the 18th largest market of the world.

South Africa which is nearing the mobile penetration of 100% will be falling down to the third position in near future.

Iran has taken an upward leap from 6th to 3rd position by adding subscribers at a pace four times faster than South Africa. Following Iran comes Egypt with 30.8 million active mobile subscribers from 29.4m in March. This rise was driven by the arrival of new entrant.

Algeria and Saudi Arabia have fallen to fifth and sixth as Iran took a leap. Algeria at the end of August had crossed the 30.8 million subscribers, while Saudi Arabia had a total of 29.8million, the sudden rise comes only when nearly a million people come to visit Haj, leave the SIMs inactive once they leave.
Morocco, Kenya and Iraq, shared the same place during March. In August, Morocco stood at 21.4 million, Kenya at 14.3 million and Iraq at 12.75 million. Tanzania retained the tenth position with 10.1 million subscribers.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Iraq, Iran, Algeria, Subscriber base
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Etisalat in talks for possible stake in Middle East operator (UAE)

October 9th, 2008
4:55 am

Etisalat which had shown keen interest in the Iraqi market last month is possibly in final talks with the Middle East telecoms operator to buy a stake worth $1 billion, an Etisalat official revealed,though the country was not disclosed.
“It is Iraq but it is not yet finalised. We will shortly announce it,” says Etisalat chairman Mohammed Omran.

This a follow up of the story http://wirelessfederation.com/news/etisalat-plans-to-enter-iraqs-mobile-market-uae/

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Batelco gives it’s subscribers, ‘Batelco World Freedom’ (Bahrain)

September 26th, 2008
5:26 am

Batelco (Bahrain Telecommunications Company) introduces a new service for it’s subscribers, ‘Batelco World Freedom’. This new service will allow it’s subscribers to recieve free incoming calls from across the world in 21 nations. Subscribers who roam in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Norway, Luxemburg, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Mozambique, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia will be able to use the service.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Ghana, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Slovakia, Norway, Serbia, Mozambique, Slovenia, Moldova, Estonia, Batelco, Armenia, Georgia, Algeria, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia, Sudan, Luxemburg, Ivory Coast
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Etisalat plans to enter Iraq’s mobile market (UAE)

September 22nd, 2008
5:20 am

Etisalat reveals it’s plans of entring the Iraqi market before end of 2008. According to COO Ahmad Julfar, the mobile operator is in talks for the acquisition of an existing operator with a licence and limited coverage area in the country, so that the UAE operator can expand the services.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Kalimat Telecom launches 3.5G network (Iraq)

June 6th, 2008
3:00 pm

Iraqi fixed wireless operator Kalimat Telecom, owned by Trade Links Middle East, has reportedly launched a 3.5G national telecom network in Iraq under the brand name Kalimat with an introductory promotional offer, Telecompaper reports. Kalimat Telecom, which has a ten-year licence to operate a fixed wireless network in Iraq, awarded a USD275 million infrastructure contract to Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies in August 2007. Huawei is installing CDMA base stations and creating an all-IP network infrastructure for the company.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News