Wireless Federation

Orascom Telecom Tunisie, brand name Tunisiana, selects NSN’s Flexi Intelligent Service Nodeto modernise its GPRS core network. The Flexi ISN, which performs GPRS Gateway Service Node (GGSN) and data charging functionalities, is fully integrated with the existing NSN charge@once pre-paid solution to enable flexible charging of data services. The service will ensure seamless consumer experience, while managing an increasingly complex combination of new processes and systems.
‘The Flexi ISN offered by Nokia Siemens Networks will enable us to take a step forward in the way we innovate, giving us greater flexibility in delivering advanced data packages for existing and new services. It enabled us reducing CAPEX and OPEX by combining both GGSN and charging session control all in one box’ said Jalel Kamoun, VAS and Pre-paid director at Tunisiana.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

The Western Union Company today announced that it has created an alliance with Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., one of the largest mobile operators in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Orascom Telecom and Western Union plan to work together to introduce mobile remittance services in select markets. The services aim to make low-principal, high-frequency remittances more convenient to the millions of consumers who send money every day.
Orascom Telecom, which was established in 1998, operates six mobile networks with a combined total of 77 million subscribers, including Djezzy in Algeria, Mobilink in Pakistan, Mobinil in Egypt, Tunisiana in Tunisia, Banglalink in Bangladesh, and Telecel Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe. In addition, in early 2008, Orascom Telecom acquired a license in North Korea to operate mobile services.
“Orascom Telecom mobile networks are in areas with high populations of people who have limited access to financial services,” said Naguib Sawiris, Orascom Telecom Chairman and CEO. “We believe this alliance, supported by our current mobile subscribers throughout the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, presents an effortless method to bring financial services to many of the world’s families for the first time.”
Western Union, together with its affiliates Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, maintains the industry’s largest global money transfer Agent network with more than 355,000 locations in over 200 countries and territories.
“As the need for remittances continues to grow, so does the desire for new channels to conduct quick, convenient and affordable money transfers,” said Gail Galuppo, Western Union Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “Western Union is already offering this convenience with mobile money transfers from select locations, and we look forward to working with Orascom Telecom to offer this option to their subscribers in the future.”
Several of the countries where Orascom Telecom operates are among the top receivers of remittances in the world. For example, according to the World Bank, Bangladesh received US$6.6 billion in remittances in 2007; Pakistan received US$6.1 billion, and Egypt received US$5.9 billion.
The Western Union(R) mobile money transfer service is currently available from select Western Union Agent locations in the United States, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Europe to Globe Telecom and Smart Communications subscribers in the Philippines.
The mobile money transfer service connects mobile operators to Western Union’s trusted global “hub” for processing cross-border remittances. Once connected to Western Union’s service, mobile operators use their own “mobile wallet” software to enable person-to-person mobile money transfers over Western Union’s global remittance network. The Mobile Money Transfer service enables consumers to transfer money to or from mobile wallets and is being introduced into the global network of Western Union Agent locations for cash-to-mobile and mobile-to-cash transactions.
The agreement with Orascom Telecom is part of the pilot program of Western Union and the GSM Association, a global trade association representing over 750 GSM mobile phone operators, to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services.

About The Western Union Company

The Western Union Company is a leader in global money-transfer services. Together with its affiliates, Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, Western Union provides consumers with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, as well as send payments and purchase money orders. It operates through a combined network of more than 355,000 Agent locations in over 200 countries and territories. Famous for its pioneering telegraph services, the original Western Union dates back to 1851. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

About Orascom Telecom

Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in six high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 440 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of 44% as of June 30, 2008. Orascom Telecom had over 77 million subscribers as of June 30, 2008.
Orascom Telecom is controlled by Weather Investments S.p.a. which also owns Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.a., Italy’s third largest mobile operator and second largest fixed-line operator, and Wind Hellas, the third largest mobile operator in Greece.
Orascom Telecom is traded on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange under the symbol; and on the London Stock Exchange, its GDR is traded under the symbol.

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

Tunisian satellite and WiMAX operator Divona Telecom has chosen Redline’s RedMax products for its five-city WiMAX network. Redline’s high-capacity RedMax AN100U base stations and indoor and outdoor subscriber units will be deployed by Divona. The USD 1 million network buildout will take place in several phases over the next two years and will connect five major cities in Tunisia, including Tunis, Nabeul, Souse, Monastir and Sfax.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Egyptian conglomerate Orascom is open to forming an alliance with France’s only bidder for a fourth mobile licence, triple-play operator Free’s parent company, Iliad. Naguib Sawiris, who owns half of Orascom Telecom through his Weather Investments vehicle, counts as Orascom’s only presence in Europe Italian mobile operator Wind, acquired for EUR 12.1 billion in 2005. The magnate told Les Echos that Orascom Telecom expressed interest in the French licence, but did not bid because it was not clear whether the licence price, EUR 619 million, would be reduced or if it would be possible to spread payments over time. Sawiris explained that Orascom would not be interested in pursuing UMTS in France, though, as he sees 3G as a “flop” on which operators spent billions of dollars on licences, but is only expected to attract 10 percent of their customers.

The main application of mobile is voice, he insists, and Wind has yet to spend a single Euro on 3G in Italy. This position puts him at odds with France Telecom, a big spender in 3G, whith whom he describes a “complex relationship”. France Telecom is Orascom’s partner in Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. Sawiris was unwilling to change the brands Mobinil, Djezzy and Tunisiana’s to Orange Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, he reveals. Sawiris also reiterated to the newspaper that Orascom would be interested in buying France’s third mobile operator, Bouygues Telecom, if Martin Bouygues ever decided to sell. The French building and telecommunication group may be looking for funds to finance its potential acquisition of a large stake in a new merged French nuclear and power utility company being formed by Areva and Alstom, according to the French press.

Orascom Telecom, outside its home market mainly present in emerging countries such as Pakistan and Algeria, has a USD 13 billion market capitalisation. It made a USD 1.1 billion operating profit on USD 2.5 billion of revenues in the first half of the year. and expects to have 100 million subscribers by the end of 2008. Sawiris sees telecommunications as a way to unite the countries of the Mediterranean Basin, which include France, but also keeps his eye on the bottom line. Thanks to lower operating costs in its emerging markets, the group enjoys a 65 percent gross operating margin in Algeria, compared to 45 percent in Italy. In Pakistan, for example, consumers spend only USD 4.90 a month on mobile communications, and consume a mere quarter of the network capacity in France.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Chinese vendor ZTE has signed a contract with Tunisie Telecom to deploy a national transmission network in Tunisia. Under the contract, ZTE will deploy infrastructure covering nearly two-thirds of the country, including all developed coastal regions. Upon completion, the network will allow incumbent Tunisie Telecom to offer transmission channels for mobile, ADSL and other services, and will establish a solid foundation for the telco’s future development.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
 

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.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Tunisia will launch an international tender for a fixed line telecoms licence, part of a drive to boost inward investment and quicken economic growth. ‘The project of a second fixed-line phone concession will be accelerated, to be finalised as soon as possible. ‘A team charged with this project in the telecoms ministry is preparing an international tender … to select a second fixed-line phone operator,’ it added, without giving further details.

State-controlled Tunisie Telecom currently has a monopoly on the provision of fixed-line services. Dubai’s Tecom bought a 35% stake in the company in March 2006, paying TND3.05 billion (USD2.27 billion) for the holding, beating Vivendi’s rival offer of TND2.76 billion.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
 

Telegeographhy writes…Wataniya Telecom has announced that its Tunisian wireless subsidiary Tunisiana (Orascom Telecom Tunisie, OTT) has welcomed the addition of its three millionth subscriber. ‘Since our 50% acquisition of Tunisiana in 2002, the company has experienced successful years of operations placing it today at the forefront of the telecommunications industry in Tunisia,’ said Ahmad Haleem, chief executive officer of Wataniya International.

According to Telegeography’s GlobalComms database, relations between Tunisiana’s shareholders – Wataniya and Orascom - have been strained; in May last year Orascom announced it would file a request for arbitration against Wataniya to enforce what it claimed to be a contractual right to acquire Wataniya’s 50% stake in Tunisiana. In its suit, Orascom claimed it had been unable to reach an amicable resolution to its assertion that Wataniya had ‘materially breached a [shareholder] agreement’, and was therefore requesting arbitration by the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC’s) International Court of Arbitration. While details are scant as to the exact nature of the disagreement between the two parties, local press reports suggest that Orascom’s decision to litigate was motivated by the Kuwaiti operator’s decision to join a consortium, consisting of Univest, the National Bank of Development of Egypt and Aman Trading, to bid for Egypt’s third wireless licence. Had the consortium been successful (it eventually lost out to Etisalat in July 2006), Wataniya would have been a principal shareholder in a direct competitor to Orascom’s Egyptian wireless arm MobiNil.

Wireless Mobile Telecom