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Wireless Federation » archive for 'Qatar Telecom'

QTel making a move to become one of the world’s top 20 telcos (Qatar)

  • August 27th, 2008
  • 6:56 am

According to the Chairman of Qatar Telecom, Qatar Telecom intends to pursue its rapid expansion policy to achieve its goal of becoming one of the world’s top 20 telecoms companies by market capitalisation by 2020.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Muhammad bin Saud Al Thani said that QTel’s buying spree will continue unabated. Its market cap has more than quadrupled to US$18 billion from US$4billion  and its presence has grown from one country to 16 in the past three-and-a-half years.

Sheikh further added that overseas activity does not mean that QTel will neglect its home market where Vodafone bought the licence to become the country’s second mobile operator and will start operating within seven months.

Mobile phone networks to be privatised soon (Lebanon)

  • August 13th, 2008
  • 1:57 pm

According to local media report, Lebanon’s parliament has approved the new ‘national unity’ cabinet line-up, which is now expected to announce a commitment to privatise the country’s two mobile phone networks. Originally, the privatisation was set for the month of february but suffered delay caused by political deadlock.  The sale of controlling stakes in the GSM mobile companies, MIC1 and MIC2, might now be delayed until after parliamentary elections set for May 2009 said Lebanon’s Ministry of Telecommunications.

MIC1 is currently branded Alfa and managed by a joint venture between DeTeCon International, part of the Deutsche Telekom group, and Saudi Arabia’s FAL Holding. MIC2 is currently managed by Kuwait’s Zain Group under the MTC Touch Lebanon banner. It is anticipated that telecoms including Zain, Etisalat, Orascom, Qatar Telecom and Saudi Telecom to take part in the upcoming auction.

Qatar Telecom bid for Indosat wedged (Jakarta)

  • July 22nd, 2008
  • 1:29 pm

Qatar Telecom’s bid for control of Indosat appeared to come on end after the Indonesian government barred the group from owning more than 49 per cent of the country’s second-biggest mobile phone operator.

Qatar Telecom last month paid $1.8billion to quadruple its stake in Indosat to 40.8 per cent, buying out its investment partner, Singapore’s Temasek.

Jordan Telecom in hunt for Qatari fixed line licence

  • June 3rd, 2008
  • 3:03 pm

France Telecom’s 51%-owned Jordanian venture Jordan Telecom (Orange Jordan) says it is interested in bidding for the second fixed line telephony licence in Qatar, details of which are due to be announced later this month. Amman-based daily Al Ghad reports that Jordan Telecom is confident it will be successful in its bid and cites the strong links it has with its Orange-branded French majority shareholder – along with the technical and financial support it derives – as key factors in its application. The Jordanian operator sees expansion in Qatar as key to its plan to increase revenues, estimated in the region of USD423 million. Jordan Telecom is competing with two international firms for the concession on offer, with the winner looking to go head-to-head with incumbent PTO Qatar Telecom.

   

 

 

 

Videocon, Motorola negotiate handset take-over

  • May 27th, 2008
  • 1:07 pm

India’s Videocon Group is in initial talks about buying the handset business of Motorola, a Reuters report said.

The company is also looking at the possibility of bidding for General Electric’s appliances division, media reports said.

“The talks with Motorola are at a very initial stage,” Videocon Industries’ chairman and managing director Venugopal Dhoot, quoted by the Reuters report, said.

In April, Dhoot had told Reuters that group flagship Videocon Industries, which has a market capitalization of €1.3 billion (US$2.1 billion) according to Reuters data, would bid for the handset unit of Motorola if the US firm decided to sell the business.

The US firm has announced its plans to split into two publicly traded entities in 2009, separating its mobile phone unit from the rest of the business that makes television set-top boxes and network equipment.

The Press Trust of India also reported that Dhoot was looking at a possible bid for General Electric’s appliances division, having received a memorandum from GE which was now being studied.

“There is a non-disclosure agreement with the merchant banker and I cannot comment on that,” Dhoot said. He did not comment on the Motorola talks.

GE said in May that it may either sell or spin-off its century-old appliances unit, which generated €4.4 billion (US$7.2 billion) in revenue last year.

The consumer electronics and home appliances segment of Videocon Industries generated consolidated revenues of €1.6 billion (US$2.6 billion) for its fiscal year ended September 2007.

Last week, Dhoot said Videocon had been approached by Middle Eastern telecom firms Emirates Telecommunications and Qatar Telecom for tie-ups in India.

   

Qatar receives 5 applications for fixed-line licence (Qatar)

  • December 18th, 2007
  • 2:50 pm

Qatar has received five applications for its second fixed-line licence on offer, local regulator IctQatar announced. The country expects to award the new licence in April 2008, and the winner will compete against incumbent Qatar Telecom. The licence will be awarded according to a ‘beauty contest’ procedure, with IctQatar assessing each bid’s technical merits and services offered. The applicants include the Argos consortium with Verizon, Batelco, Etisalat, Eutelia and the Qipco consortium including PCCW. Additional parties may still register interest until 7 February 2008. The license award will be a fixed fee of QAR 10 million.

   

Wataniya awarded Israeli frequencies to operate in Palestine (Palestinian Territory)

  • October 25th, 2007
  • 2:00 pm

Kuwait’s Wataniya Telecom has been awarded frequencies by Israel’s Communications Ministry, allowing it to offer mobile services in the Palestinian Territory, the Palestinian Telecommunications and Economy Minister confirmed yesterday. According to Reuters, Kamal Hassouneh said his Israeli counterpart had ‘no objection’ to granting Wataniya, which is now owned by Qatar Telecom, frequency spectrum to operate as the second Palestinian mobile network operator. ‘We have been demanding that Israel grant the frequencies needed for Wataniya for a long time. Israel gave its verbal consent,’ Hassouneh said, adding that Israel must grant frequencies under the Oslo peace accords.

Hassouneh went on to say that Wataniya was ready to start operating immediately on receipt of the requisite frequencies.In March 2007 Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunications Company, the company formed by Wataniya International and the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) to launch Palestine’s second wireless network, signed a licence agreement with the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) bringing the arrival of the new Palestine mobile operator one step closer. The terms of the licence agreement had been in negotiation since Wataniya International successfully bid JOD251 million (USD356 million) for the concession in September 2006. Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunications Company is 40% owned by Wataniya International and 30% owned by the PIF, while the remaining shares will be offered to the Palestinian public through an IPO. Wataniya plans to build and operate a GSM network in the Palestinian Territory and also hopes to roll out a 3G network in the future.

   
 

Qtel doubles H1 revenues after acquisitions(Qatar)

  • August 8th, 2007
  • 2:13 pm

Qatar Telecom reported a near doubling in first-half revenues to QAR 4.014 billion versus QAR 2.033 billion a year earlier, helped by acquisitions abroad. EBITDA grew 67.8 percent to QAR 2.133 billion, and consolidated net profit increased to QAR 1.338 billion from QAR 1.124 billion a year ago. Acquisitions in the past year included 51 percent in Wataniya Telecom, a stake in an Asian mobile venture with ST Telemedia and 78 percent of wireless venture ATCO Clearwire. In its home market, Qtel’s revenues were up 17 percent to QAR 2.15 billion. The mobile customer base, the main profit driver, grew to 1.108 million versus 811,000 in June 2006. Qtel’s mobile operator in Oman, Nawras, increased its base to 787,000 customers, with revenues up 91 percent to QAR 371 million. Wataniya group generated revenues of QAR 2.141 billion in the period and ended June with 7.4 million customers.

   

Qatar Telecom’s profits slip on acquisition costs

  • August 8th, 2007
  • 7:41 am

Qatar Telecommunica-tions (Qtel) said yesterday its profit fell in the second quarter as financing costs surged after it borrowed $4.5 billion to pay for acquisitions.

Qtel, which bought Kuwait’s National Mobile Telecommunications Company (Wataniya) in March for $3.72bn, said it would consider selling bonds to refinance some of its debt by next March.

Profit attributable to shareholders fell 6.2 per cent to 412.12 million riyals ($113.2m), or 4.12 riyals per share, in the second quarter, missing two of three analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters survey in June.

State-controlled Qtel made 439.20m riyals, or 4.39 riyals per share, in the same period last year.

Wataniya’s contribution to Qtel’s profit in the quarter covered less than half of Qtel’s debt financing costs, which surged to 278.66m riyals from 2.43m, financial statements showed.

“Our concerns about financing costs came to be true,” said Jithesh Gopi, an analyst with Bahrain’s SICO investment bank.

Kuwait’s second telecom operator, in which Qtel owns a 51pc stake, contributed 9.18m dinars ($32.60m), or about 118.9m riyals, during the quarter. The Kuwaiti firm’s quarterly profit rose 2.9pc to 18m dinars.

“The concern we have is how long it will take for the company to pay off this debt because the total debt is more than what they earn from Wataniya,” Gopi said.

Qtel took out two loans totalling $4.5bn in March to pay for acquisitions including its January purchase of a 25pc stake in Asia Mobile Holdings, a unit of Singapore’s Technologies Telemedia.

Its total debt was 18.71bn riyals at the end of June, up from 648.17m riyals six months earlier.

Qtel, the fifth-largest Gulf telecom firm by market value, is expanding outside its domestic market as Qatar prepares to sell a second mobile phone licence this year, ending the last Arab telecom monopoly. Total customers jumped more than seven-fold to 9.6m at the end of June, including operators in which it holds a minority stake, Qtel said. More than 78pc of these customers were Wataniya subscribers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria and the Maldives.

   

 

 
 

Consultation on new licences launched

  • June 12th, 2007
  • 3:06 pm

Telegeography writes…The Supreme Council of Information and Communications Technology (ictQATAR) yesterday began a public consultation on the proposed new fixed line and mobile networking licences. The period for comments and views on the draft licence documents runs until 1 July, a press release said. The documents published on ictQATAR’s website represent the basis on which the regulator intends to licence incumbent telco Qatar Telecom (Qtel) as well as new competitors. One of the watchdog’s goals is to foster competition through transparent and non-discriminatory licensing. Comments submitted by companies involved in the telecommunications industry and other interested parties will be reviewed and considered before final licence texts are issued. According to Decree Law (34) of 2006 and the promulgated Telecommunications Law, Qtel must be issued with a new set of telecoms licences. Published yesterday were draft fixed and mobile licences for Qtel and new entrants, along with corresponding radio spectrum licences. ictQATAR is currently reviewing applications from prospective mobile licensees submitted during a recent pre-qualification process. A list of qualified candidates is expected to be announced shortly, the release said, and a formal mobile licence application process will be launched in July; it is expected that the process for licensing a new fixed line operator will be launched soon after. The new fixed line licence will mirror the basic terms and conditions of Qtel’s concession. Also available on its website are ictQATAR’s official responses to submissions from its ‘Consultation on Liberalisation of Telecommunications Markets in Qatar’, which was issued on 23 April.