Tunisiana’s 3G bid declined (Tunisia)
Telecom operator Tunisiana’s bid for the 3G and fixed licence has been declined by Tunisia’s ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Ministry, according to a report by Biztech Africa.
As per the report the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Mongi Marzouk, said Tunisiana had offered to purchase the landline license for $ 23.38 million and the 3G license for $ 81.2 million. The Ministry earlier accepted the company’s proposed terms for network quality.
The report reveals that while the Ministry declined to specify what bid it would accept, it pointed out that Orange Tunisia had paid $ 179 million in June 2009 for a similar package with the option of an exclusive 3G licence for one year.
Tunisie Telecom acquired its 3G licence in 2010, for $ 75.3 million. Tunisiana has indicated that it may revise its bid.
Tunisiana’s 3G and fixed line bid rejeceted (Tunisia)
Mobile operator Tunisiana’s bid to acquire third 3G and landline licence has been rejected by the ICT Minister, as reported by Tunisia Live. According to the report, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Mongi Marzouk, said that once they grant the licences, they will officially announce the minimum amount that they are willing to accept in order to guarantee that no operator offers them the absolute minimum.
As per the report, Tunisiana offered to purchase the landline licence for $23.5 million and the 3G licence for $81.7 million.According to Marzouk, the private telecommunications company has also presented an appropriate plan to develop the landline network and 3G coverage in the whole country, especially in the interior regions.
The report reveals that in an official response to the rejection, Director-General of Tunisiana Kenneth Campbell said that his company will carefully adjust their offer and renew it in the coming days. The next time will be the final opportunity for Tunisiana to present its financial terms.
Algeria to auction 3G licences soon (Algeria)
Moussa Benhamadi, Algerian Minister of Post, Information and Communication Technologies has reportedly said that telecom operators in Algeria will receive 3G licences once an agreement is reached between Djezzy and Vimpelcom.
As per reports, Benhamadi said that the Ministry of Finance should resume in the upcoming weeks the talks to reach an agreement over the purchase of Djezzy’s 51 percent stake.
Further, Algerian Minister of Finance Karim Djoudi said that negotiations with Vimpelcom are ongoing. Until now the price has not been specified. They will work in these negotiations to set the real value. He said that the three operators, Mobilis, Djezzy and Nedjma would be able to bid for 3G frequencies following settlement of the dispute.
MTN obtains 3G licences in Ivory Coast and Benin (Africa)
South Africa’s leading mobile operator MTN has obtained 3G licences in both Ivory Coast ad Benin, and is looking to launch 3G services in these regions soon. As per a report by CommsMEA, Bruno Koné, Icory Coast’s minister of post and ICT, told MTN that it was awarding the 3G licence to the telco at MTN’s offices in Abidjan.
Further, Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO, MTN Cote d’Ivoire, said that the operator had already identified about 30 per cent of subscribers who would be the first to experience 3G services.
As per the report, in Benin, the government granted MTN a universal licence which allows the company to provide mobile telecommunication services using any technology within the defined agreed frequency range without additional fees. This includes 3G, 4G, LTE, Wimax, Wi-Fi outdoor as well as the use of VoIP.
Eric Tronel, CEO, MTN Benin, said that MTN is the only operator in Benin with a licence to use wireless technologies such as 3G, LTE and WiMAX. He added that this presents a great opportunity to improve business communication solutions and other services to customers, both in the consumer and corporate sectors.
MTN’s 3G licence application denied (Swaziland)
The Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC) has reportedly declined to grant MTN Swaziland, the country’s sole mobile network operator, a 3G licence.
MTN was hoping to have received the concession at the end of last year, with CEO Ambrose Dlamini announcing that negotiations were at an ‘advanced’ stage. No explanation has yet been forthcoming from the regulator.
MTN Swaziland is believed to have carried out a month long pilot of four UMTS base stations last year. It was then granted a temporary 3G licence to cover several events including the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA) summit, held last August.
The permit was valid from 16 August to 30 September, with 3G services allowed to be offered to post-paid customers only. At the end of September 2010 MTN Swaziland had 679,000 subscribers.
Zain Malawi gets 3G Licence.
MACRA has awarded a 3G licence to Zain Malawi, which is expected to enhance high-speed wireless internet access.
Zain marketing director, Enwell Kadango confirmed that discussions that started between the company and MACRA since 2006 has finally borne fruit as its licence conditions have now been changed.
3G is the telecommunication hardware standard and general technology for the mobile networking superseding 2.5G system which will now allow speed in data processing,†said Kadango who added that Malawi is taking after most developing countries that are using this technology.
Currently Zain Malawi is about to finish its equipment installation across the country which will be compatible with the new system which offers fast downloading speeds of between 2-8mbps.
Malawi’s Zain CEO Fayaz King said 3G would also allow users to watch television besides connecting to the internet and make video calls.
TNM Limited, Zain’s competitor in the market got the licence sometime back but it is only now that the company has been testing it.
Cosmote applies for Romanian 3G licence
Mobile operator Cosmote has submitted an offer for a 3G licence to the Romanian general inspectorate for ICT (IGCTI). The company expects to hear by 15 October whether its application was successful. The licence costs around USD 35 million, while Cosmote has already budgeted for the associated network capital expenditure. Cosmote launched services in Romania in December 2005 and has around 535,000 customers and network coverage of 90 percent of the population. Rivals Orange and Vodafone already launched 3G services earlier this year in Romania.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Technorati : 3G, Cosmote, Mobile, Operator, Romania
Ice Rocket : 3G, Cosmote, Mobile, Operator, Romania
