France Telecom in talks to buy Korek Telecom stake
France Telecom is in discussion to acquire a minority stake in Iraq’s third-largest mobile phone operator, to expand in the Middle East.
According to sources, it was considering purchasing a stake in Korek Telecom, in a deal that give the Iraqi mobile operator an enterprise value of US$$1.5 billion. Although no deal has been finalized, France Telecom is interested in eventually securing a controlling stake in Korek.
The French telecoms group is looking for growth in emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
It is competing with two much larger groups: Zain, Iraq’s largest mobile operator, which has 11.8 million customers, and Asia Cell, the second largest, which has 7.9 million.
According to Stephane Richard, France Telecom’s Chief Executive has set a target of doubling the group’s revenue from Africa and the Middle East within five years.
MTC Atheer passes three million mark
MTC Atheer, one of the three nationwide cellcos operators in Iraq, has announced that it has signed up over three million subscribers since first launching commercial operations in March 2004. In a statement Ali Dahwi, the firm’s chief executive, said that USD430 million had been invested in the Iraqi market in that time, and further money would be injected in the future to expand MTC’s infrastructure in the north. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database the three nationwide operators, MTC Atheer, Asia-Cell and Iraqna (Orascom Telecom Iraq), had a 30% market share each, with the remainder split between Kurdistan operators Sana Tel and Korek Telecom.
Source- telegeography Wireless Mobile Telecom
