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RURA shortlists four bidders for third mobile licence (Rwanda)

  • October 3rd, 2008
  • 5:55 am

RURA, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency, shortlists four firms for country’s third mobile licence. Nearly 17 firms had taken the bidding documents but Larrycom for Investment, Millicom, Zain and Telecel Globe (part of Orascom Telecom) were the only one’s to present their bids. According to Diogne Mudenge, the Director General of RURA, the completion of the technical and financial evaluation will take place by end of October, with the licensing, to be done after pariliament’s approval, ie end of 2008.

   

Millicom launches 3G services in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia

  • September 1st, 2008
  • 6:00 am

Millicom, the global teleco, announces the launch of 3G services in Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia. The launches in Paraguay, El Salvador and Colombia will be followed before the end of this year, with which the roll-out of 3G across all six of its markets in Latin America will be completed. Millicom is providing the full portfolio of 3G services including high speed mobile broadband, internet access for mobilecustomers via laptop, TV on mobile handsets, music and video downloads and video calling.
“The launch of 3G services in Latin America is the first step in the process of meeting the needs of our higher ARPU customers for broadband services. Broadband is expected to be a significant growth segment in these markets and one which we expect will be an important driver to our businesses going forward.”  says Marc Beuls, President and CEO of Millicom.

   

Only 7 companies to bid for 3rd Mobile licence in Rwanda

  • July 30th, 2008
  • 12:50 pm

Only seven companies shows interest in third mobile licence of Rawanda. According to source, relatively low interest may be to do with flaws in the tender process. Seven companies are Vitel Holdings, Larrycom For Investment, Essar Telecom, Comium Group, Celtel, Millicom, and Easymobile Communications.There has been criticism of the government’s policy of extending invitations to bid to preferred companies, and not instead having a widely advertised public tender with bidding documents made available to everyonone.
Closing date is 30 september, RURA will select the top three bidders. Final decision will be taken by the State Ministry of ICT, which will make the final decision before the end of the year.

Millicom revenues up 41% in Q4

  • February 15th, 2008
  • 2:28 pm

Emerging markets mobile operator Millicom reported fourth-quarter revenues of USD 768 million, up 41 percent from a year earlier on strong subscriber growth. EBITDA improved 34 percent to USD 307 million, and net profit rose to USD 113 million from USD 50 million a year earlier, helped by a tax benefit in Colombia. Millicom added 3.4 million new subscribers in the quarter for a total 23.35 million at year-end, of which 96 percent were prepaid. The company said the strong subscriber growth led it to accelerate investments last year, which rose to over USD 1 billion from USD 616 million in 2006. It expects to again spend over USD 1 billion this year. MIllicom will pay a special dividend of USD 2.40 per share with the proceeds from selling Paktel.

Central America remained the company’s largest market with revenues of USD 329 million, up 31 percent from a year earlier. EBITDA improved 28 percent to USD 168 million. The region added 1.42 million customers during the quarter for a total 8.82 million, helped by the introduction of per-second billing last year.

In South America, revenues rose 47 percent from a year earlier to USD 239 million, while EBITDA improved 54 percent to USD 75 million. Subscriber numbers rose to 5.89 million from 5.30 million at the end of September. Millicom said results in Colombia were hurt by the cut in interconnection rates, but a parallel cut in end-user prices is expected to offset the effect. Tigo Colombia added 276,000 subscribers in the quarter.

In Africa, sales rose 57 percent to USD 145 million and EBITDA increased 34 percent to USD 44 million. Over 1 million new customers were added in the quarter, for a total 5.67 million. Milicom said its operations in Chad, which were shut down at the end of January, are preparing to restart services shortly. Growing in the business in Chad and DRC led to a drop in the EBITDA margin to 31 percent last year, which Millicom said should be a low point and wa salready improving from Q4.

In Asia, revenues from continuing operations were up 43 percent to USD 54.5 million, and EBITDA rose 27 percent to USD 20.4 million. The number of subscribers increased to 2.96 million from 2.62 million three months earlier.

   

Panama govt unveils terms for PCS mobile tender (Panama)

  • October 31st, 2007
  • 2:26 pm

The Panamanian government has issued the specifications for the tender to allow two new mobile phone firms to offer PCS services in Panama, reports La Prensa. There are so far six interested companies - Luxembourg-based Millicom, Jamaica-based Digicel, Mexico-based America Movil and Iusacell, and France’s Orange. Panama-based fixed-line service firm Cable Onda also wants to take part. The winning bidders will need to invest at least USD 55 million, and will need to set up their own infrastrcture. The 20-year licences will be extendable.

   

Millicom sales up 77% in Q3 to USD 686 mln

  • October 24th, 2007
  • 12:18 pm

Emerging markets mobile operator Millicom reported third-quarter revenues of USD 686 million, up 77 percent from a year earlier. EBITDA increased 60 percent to USD 296 million, and net profit grew to USD 138 million from USD 52 million a year earlier. The company said accelerated investment of USD 347 million in the quarter helped drive subscriber growth, particularly in Africa, with 2 million new customers added during the period. It finished September with in total 19.95 million subscribers. Millicom is raising its capex budget for 2007 to over USD 1 billion from a previous estimate of USD 800 million. A similar level is planned for 2008, when it will also start to roll out 3G services in Latin America.

In its largest region Central America, Millicom finished the period with 7.40 million subscribers, up from 6.71 million in June. Sales rose 45 percent from a year earlier to USD 300 million, and EBITDA also improved 45 percent to USD 161 million. ARPU was stable at USD 20. Millicom expects to have churned off all its CDMA and TDMA customers in the region by year-end, with the excess spectrum to be used for 3G in 2008.

In Africa, the company saw sales increase 52 percent to USD 122 million, helped by recent price cuts, while EBITDA rose just 8 percent to USD 34 million as the company invested in subscriber growth and start-ups in Chad and DRC. The number of subscribers increased to 4.62 million from 3.95 million three months earlier.

South Amercia generated sales of USD 215 million, versus just USD 62 million a year ago prior to the Colombia Movil takeover. EBITDA increased to USD 80 million from USD 28 million a year ago. The number of customers totalled 5.30 million at the end of September, versus 4.86 million in June.

   

Telefonica plans additional investment (Guatemala)

  • October 3rd, 2007
  • 2:31 pm

Telefonica says its total investment in its Guatemalan operations will reach USD810 million by the end of 2007, according to a report from BNamericas. The Spanish firm is planning to spend USD80 million between now and the end of the year to expand its mobile coverage nationwide, adding to the USD730 million it has already invested. The firm says it now has two million cellular subscribers in Guatemala, already beating its end-2007 target. Telefonica competes with America Movil subsidiary Claro and Millicom’s Tigo.

   

 

14 bidders line up for wireless concessions (Panama)

  • October 1st, 2007
  • 10:08 am

Panama’s public services regulator Asep is quoted by BNamericas as saying that there have been 14 expressions of interest in the forthcoming auction of two wireless concessions. Possible bidders include Iusacell (of Mexico), America Movil, Orange, Millicom International Cellular, Digicel and US group Vitel, as well as Panamanian firms Vtel, Global Star, Clarocom, Cable Onda, Advanced Communication, Innovation Wireless, Torres Troncales and Pan American Wireless.

Asep is scheduled to publish the bidding rules on 21 October and will respond to consultations about the prequalification process during November and December. The regulator will accept prequalification applications from 28 January 2008 and expects to announce prequalified bidders on 27 February. The auction itself will start with reception of financial offers on 19 April, with the winners to be announced on May 21. The government expects to raise at least USD36 million for each new 20-year concession awarded, according to the Mexican press.

   
 

 

CMPak extends licence area (Pakistan)

  • August 31st, 2007
  • 3:17 pm

CMPak, the wireless operator formerly known as Paktel, has confirmed that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has amended its licence to allow it to provide wireless services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the Northern Areas (NA). According to the CEO of SMPak, the new licences will allow the company to extend its coverage to the scenic northern parts of the country.

In February 2007 Millicom International Cellular (MIC) sold its 88.86% stake in Paktel to China Mobile Communications Corp for USD284 million in cash. In May 2007 China Mobile acquired the outstanding shares from the Arfeen Group (10%) and others. CMPak has embarked on an aggressive network expansion plan since the acquisition, with China Mobile expected to spend USD400 million in 2007 in expanding the network.

   
 

 

 

 

 

Twelve companies interested in mobile licences (Panama)

  • August 23rd, 2007
  • 1:07 pm

Local press reports, cited by BNamericas, state that twelve companies have expressed an interest in bidding for one of two Panamanian mobile licences in an auction process that is due to start on 27 October and be awarded in May 2008. Public services regulator Asep revealed the interested parties to be: America Movil, Orange, Millicom International Cellular, Digicel, Vtel, Global Star, Clarocom, Cable Onda, Advanced Communication, Innovation Wireless, Torres Troncales and Pan American Wireless. Horacio Hoquee, Asep’s assistant director for fixed line telephony, was quoted as saying that the number of companies could increase given that the prequalification stage is open until January 28. Panama currently has two mobile operators, Telefonica-owned Movistar and Cable & Wireless.