Skip to Content »

Wireless Federation » archive for 'Rwandatel'

Millicom International Cellular wins tender for 3rd mobile license in Rwanda

  • November 17th, 2008
  • 8:46 am

Millicom International Cellular S.A., the global telecommunications company, today announces that it has been successful in the tender for the 3rd national mobile license in Rwanda against three other bidders. Millicom will hold 87.5% of the equity in a newly created joint venture company in partnership with Marathon Corporation, an established local company with numerous business interests in Rwanda. The joint venture will pay US$ 60m dollars for the 15 year license.
Rwanda has some 10 million inhabitants and is a country of some 26,000 sq.km, located between Millicom”s existing operations in DRC and Tanzania, giving potential to create synergies between the three businesses over time. Mobile penetration in Rwanda is low, at some 9%, and there are currently only two operators: Rwandatel and MTN, of which MTN is the dominant operator with around 1 million subscribers. The structure of the mobile industry presents Millicom with the opportunity to build a business with a significant market share. Rwanda has a well developed road and grid infrastructure and a government with ambitions to continue investments, including in ICT, with the development of telecoms, internet and broadband services in the coming years. Millicom”s license win contributes to this development program. The country’s population is very young and the economy is based on agriculture, trade and mining. In addition, gas extraction has recently started in Lake Kivu.
Marc Beuls, President and CEO of Millicom commented, “We are very pleased to have been awarded the third mobile license in Rwanda. It is a country with great potential for mobile telephony as it is a very densely populated country with an extremely low mobile penetration which will enable us to build out a network quickly and economically, and its strategic position between our operations in Tanzania and DRC offers potential operational synergies. Rwanda will become Millicom’s eighth country in Africa and will strengthen our overall position in the continent which, we believe, will be the fastest growing part of Millicom’s business in the coming years.”
Millicom International Cellular S.A. is a global telecommunications group with mobile telephony operations in 16 countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. It also operates cable and broadband businesses in five countries in Central America. The Group”s mobile operations have a combined population under license of approximately 291 million people.
This press release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” with respect to Millicom”s expectations and plans, strategy, management”s objectives, future performance, costs, revenues, earnings and other trend information. It is important to note that Millicom”s actual results in the future could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements depending on various important factors. Please refer to the documents that Millicom has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Millicom”s most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors.
All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Millicom on the date hereof. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Millicom International Cellular S.A., any Millicom International Cellular S.A. employees or representatives acting on Millicom”s behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. Millicom does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

About Wireless Federation

Wireless Federation is an industry research conglomerate headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The mandate of the Wireless Federation is to provide its members and customers industry knowledge that can further enhance their understanding of the wireless industry. Wireless Federation conducts bespoke research and produces boxed reports in collabaration with Industry Bodies, Telecom Operators for Issues that revolve around ARPU, CHURN and Loyalty.
They have been associated with more than 225 mobile operators globally to set their Pricing/ Tariff Strategies, Go-To-Market Strategies for Mobile Advertising, Mobile Payments, Cutting VAS among others amongst 59 countries globally.

For more information you can log on to www.wirelessfederation.com
   

Viedo call made via Rwandatel’s 3G network (Rwanda)

  • September 2nd, 2008
  • 12:02 pm

Rwandatel is currently testing the UMTS services ahead of its official launch next month with it’s new 3G network. During this test the President Paul Kagama has made a video call.
The operator has constructed nearly 80 base stations out of 154 to be deployed nationwide.
The cash inflow for the roll out comes from the Libyan company Lap Green, which acquired an 80% stake in Rwandatel in October 2007.
The investor promises to spend USD317 million over 15 years to improve telecoms in Rwanda, including USD87 million in the first year.
   

Libyan firm wins USD 100 mln tender to buy Rwandatel (Libya)

  • October 15th, 2007
  • 2:44 pm

The Libyan firm Lap Green Networks has won a USD 100 million tender to buy 80 percent of the shares in Rwandatel. This is more than the USD 25 million Terracom, an American firm which previously managed Rwandatel, was to pay the government for the same company. The company also promises to invest USD 317 million to re-start the telecom sector in the country. The investment will run over a period of over 15 years and see the company inject USD 87 million in the economy during its first year of running Rwandatel. The Social Security Fund of Rwanda has the remaining 20 percent stake in Rwandatel. Communication and Energy State Minister Albert Butare said the government wanted a local company to have a stake in Rwandatel to represent the interests of Rwandans. He said the cabinet awarded Lap Green the 80 percent shares in Rwandatel after it beat other bidders which included telecom giants Vodacom and Celtel. The Libyan firm has promised to operate a border-less network between Uganda’s UTL and Rwandatel. The company has a 69 per cent stake in UTL. Lap Green is owned by Libya Africa Investments Portfolio for Africa, a consortium set up to reorganize the interests of the Libyan government on the continent.

   

Six bid for Rwandatel (Rwanda)

  • September 21st, 2007
  • 3:08 pm

Six companies have entered bids for Rwanda’s state-owned fixed and mobile operator Rwandatel, a month after the government offered to sell up to 70% of its shares in the firm. The six potential suitors are Vodacom Group of South Africa, Kuwaiti-owned Celtel, Jordan’s V-Tel Holdings, Bit Map Ltd of Singapore, Uganda’s LapGreen Network and domestic firm R-Com. ‘We are looking for a strategic investor with capacity to develop the sector by improving the quality of services and meeting the ever increasing expectations of telecommunications market in Rwanda,’ Rwandatel said in a statement. According to news agency Reuters, Rwanda’s mobile market is dominated by MTN Rwanda, owned by the South African MTN Group, which has seen subscriber numbers double to 500,000 in the previous twelve months.