Telecom New Zealand’s Q2 earning down by 23.8%
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Net earnings of NZD80 million (USD55.84 million) down from NZD105 million has been announced by Telecom New Zealand for the three months ended December 31, 2009. 6.5% year-on-year decline in revenues for the second quarter of the 2009/10 financial year has also been reported which is again down from NZD1.4 billion in 2Q08 to NZD1.32 billion a year later.
According to Paul Reynolds, Telecom CEO, telecom’s delivery of the turnaround remains on track, the quarter saw progress on a range of fronts, including the addition of 60,000 customers in mobile, Telecom Retail attracting 64% of broadband connection growth, reduced fixed line churn and the success of our cost out programme.
467,000 connections were established December 31, 2009 out of which 57% of the connections are post-paid, and 47% are new acquisitions. The average data revenues per user increased 19% and roaming revenues increased 111% when compared to Q2 in the previous financial year.
Verizon landlines sale to Frontier approved by Ohio
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The purchase of the traditional telephone line business by Frontier Communications Corp.’s from Verizon Communications Inc has been approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
The regulator approved Frontier’s acquisition of Verizon’s wireline operations in Ohio for homes and small businesses. Nevada, South Carolina and California’s regulators were followed by Ohio to approve Frontier’s acquisition.
Frontier has already received approvals from officials in 41 towns in Washington state and Oregon and it is waiting for approvals from five other states and the Federal Communications Commission.
Kuwait’s Zain appoints ex-minister Salama as CEO
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Former minister Nabil Bin Salama has been appointed as the chief executive of Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co or Zain replacing Saad Al Barrak, who has stepped down.
The board of the third-largest Arab telecom operator by market value expressed their confidence in the professional capabilities of Mr Bin Salama in continuing the company’s future direction and path in maximizing shareholder value.
Outgoing CEO, Al Barrak was appointed in 2002 and lead the company’s aggressive expansion drive with acquisitions and licenses aimed at turning the company into a top-ten global telecom player by 2011.
Sprint suffers a net loss of USD2.44 billion in 2009
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A net loss of USD2.44 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2009 has been posted by Sprint Nextel, which is a 13% year-on-year improvement. A net loss of USD2.79 billion has also been suffered by the company and the revenues continued to fall, down 9% from USD35.64 billion in 2008 to USD32.26 billion a year later.
Operating income before interest, depreciation and amortization went down from USD7.66 billion to USD6.41 billion. The company also lost a total of 1.13 million wireless subscribers in 2009.
According to CEO Dan Hesse, Sprint’s performance built notable momentum during the second half of 2009 and the firm continues to closely manage costs, and in 2009 it generated the highest annual free cash flow since the merger.
The fourth quarter completion of the Virgin Mobile USA and iPCS acquisitions, as well as additional large investment in Clearwire, are hailed important for the future of the company.
Indian unit of Telenor hunt for bigger rival
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an aim to reflect the expanded ambitions for India, the Indian unit of Norway’s Telenor is considering buying a bigger rival. The step will herald the arrival of consolidation in the jam-packed mobile phone market.
The company is taking several steps to materialize this idea. Bankers are appointed by Uninor to advise it on the likely acquisition of a mid-sized operator besides equipping itself with an internal report on consolidation in the mobile space.
According to Telenor spokeswoman Glenn Mandelid, Telenor has previously stated the group is currently not planning any major acquisitions and Uninor has just launched with the focus on establishing the brand as a preferred provider of mobile services in India.
Portugal Telecom acquires GPTI to boost Brazil prospects
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The plans of Portugal Telecom to grow its presences in the Brazilian market has been boosted by its acquisition of local IS/IT provider GPTI. 100% equity stake in GPTI has been taken over by the 100% carrier which paid for by a share issue at its Dedic subsidiary.
Once regulatory approval of the deal is received, 12.5% stake in Dedic will be held by GPTI. However, the figure could hit 20% if performance targets for 2010 and 2011 are met.
hrough GPTI, PT plans to create an integrated IS/IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) company, while strengthening existing relationships in Brazil.
Grameenphone adds 1.3 million subscribers (Bangladesh)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With an increase of 1.3 million in the number of subscription, a jerk in subscription growth has been faced by Bangladesh’s Grameenphone in the last quarter of 2009, pushing the total number of subscriptions over the 23 million subscription base.
According to Grameenphone CEO Oddvar Hesjedal, the SIM tax continues to be a significant bane for the industry and a barrier for tele-penetration in the country as subscriptions spiked each time the company opted to subsidize the tax, however, there is concern that with new entrants coming into the market there is possibility of greater competition ahead.
2.6% increase in the Q4 revenue was also recorded by the telco. Due to higher subscription acquisition costs, EBITDA margin in this quarter stood at 52.6% compared to 59.6% of the last quarter of 2008 and 57% of the third quarter of 2009. Because of reduced interconnect rate, ARPU in this quarter decreased from BDT 268 to BDT 244 in comparison with the last quarter of 2008.
Nextel’s stake to be acquired by Televisa (Mexico)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: CFC’s approval has been seeked by Mexican media group Televisa to acquire a stake in the local unit of mobile operator NII Holdings. Both the companies have notified the Federal Competition Commission regarding their intention to undertake this acquisition.
The CFC has 30 days to approve or deny the acquisition.
There are 2.9 million customers and 3.6 percent mobile market share of NII Holdings operating in Latin America under the Nextel brand name, in Mexico at the end of September 2009.
Europe telecom sector to see signs of recovery
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Some signs of recovery are expected to be seen in the fourth-quarter results from European operators even though the regulatory drag on revenue is set to persist. Foreign exchange is expected to be a major driver with the dollar rally boosting Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone.
The theme of the telecom sector in Europe will remain the same namely mergers, acquisitions and cooperation agreements and more deal is expected to come after the merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the U.K.
According to the analysts, European telecoms operators have two options, either to postpone investments further to remain focused on free cash flow and preserve the financial flexibility that an uncertain environment requires, or use the financial flexibility created in the sector in 2009 to upgrade both fixed and mobile networks to repurpose the old voice model.
SinglePoint’s mobile aggregation business acquired by Ericsson
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: SMS aggregation reach in the USA has been boosted by Ericsson after the acquisition of operator and aggregation contract assets belonging to SinglePoint. Ericsson will reach CSCA (Common Short Code Administration) Tier 1 aggregator status after the asset purchase besides strengthening its position as a global messaging connection provider.
SinglePoint, based in Bellevue, Washington, enables brands, agencies and publishers to connect with more than 270 million North American wireless subscribers.
According to Scott Nichols, Director of Ericsson’s IPX business in North America, the company has a well-established customer base, a complete suite of operator connections that will enable it to be a leading player in the US market and its ability to secure this opportunity with SinglePoint was a key link in their North American strategy.
