VolgaTelecom launches GSM in Penza
Telegeography writes…VolgaTelecom has launched GSM mobile services in Penza under the ON brand name, via its local subsidiary Penza Mobile, which simultaneously discontinued its old D-AMPS service. Penza Mobile is VolgaTelecom’s ninth GSM subsidiary in the Volga region. The company plans on installing more than 100 base stations in Penza city and oblast by the end of this year, with network capacity for around 200,000 subscribers.
Weather completes TIM Hellas takeover
Telegeography writes…Greek mobile operator TIM Hellas Telecommunications has announced the completion of the 100% takeover of its parent holding company Hellas Telecommunications (Luxembourg) by Weather Investments, the telecoms holding vehicle of Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris. The deal was first announced in February, when Weather agreed to buy TIM Hellas and its sister company Q-Telecom, Greece’s third and fourth largest cellcos by subscribers, from Apax Partners and Texas Pacific for a total of USD4.4 billion. Sawiris has also proposed a plan to increase Weather subsidiary Wind’s 50%-plus-one-share stake in Greece’s largest alternative fixed line telco Tellas to 100% by buying out its joint venture partner, Greek electricity utility Public Power Corporation (PPC).
Idea Cellular announces year end results
Telegeography writes…Idea Cellular has announced that at the end of its financial year ended 31 March 2007 it served a subscriber base of 14.01 million, a 90.2% increase on the previous year’s figure and reflecting an improvement in national market share from 7.65% to 8.63%. Its consolidated revenues and EBITDA for the full year were INR44.13 billion (USD1.07 billion) and INR15.10 billion, up 47.6% and 38.3% respectively. The cash profit for the full year was INR11.75 billion, representing a 54.4% increase on the previous year’s figure of INR5.03 billion.
Telmex Q1 profit jumps 9% on broadband boost
Telegeography writes…Telmex has posted a better-than-expected 9% rise in first-quarter net profit to MXN8.78 billion (USD795 million), up from MXN8.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue increased 2.5% to MXN45.1 billion, thanks to a 13% growth in internet income. EBITDA fell 2.2% in the quarter to MXN19.5 billion. Telmex added 33,000 fixed lines in the first quarter, while net new broadband customers totalled 304,000, taking its total internet client base to 2.1 million, up 75% from March 2006.
Over 120,000 IPTV users
Telegeography writes…More than 120,000 Canadians now subscribe to Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), according to research by Digital Home, although most are in the prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. IPTV is defined as the broadcasting of television services over a high speed internet connection using fixed telephone lines. Consumers connect their televisions to a set top box that connects to their phone line. There are currently four IPTV providers in Canada: MTS, SaskTel, Telus and Bell Aliant. MTS, the incumbent fixed line provider in Manitoba, announced recently that it had signed up 70,000 customers. Its counterpart in Saskatchewan, SaskTel, reported this month that it had 51,000 IPTV customers, whilst official subscriber figures for Telus TV and Aliant TV have not been released, but the numbers are believed to be very small, according to the research. Last August, MTS became the first IPTV provider to offer a High Definition TV (HDTV) service to its customers, followed by SaskTel two months later.
